MSNBC Ratings Show Big Change Since Trump Inauguration
MSNBC is bouncing back after a brief post-election slump late last year, as the network has seen a ratings boost over the past month since President Donald Trump officially took office.
According to Nielsen ratings, as reported by The Daily Beast, MSNBC has averaged 1.37 million people in its primetime lineup since Trump’s inauguration on January 20. This is an 86 percent increase from the network’s post-election and pre-inauguration numbers.
The network has also posted its best total-day ratings in a while, averaging 711,000 viewers, a 43 percent increase over the late 2024 period.
This comes after news networks across the board took a fall after Trump’s election victory in November, with MSNBC down 47% and CNN down 33% for the month. Even Fox News saw a 9% dip in the week beginning November 20. Meanwhile, in prime time, MSNBC lost 52% of its viewers, while CNN dropped 39%.
The news fatigue was exacerbated after Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski revealed they’d traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President Trump. The Monday, November 20 episode, where the hosts discussed their meeting, brought in 839,000 total viewers and 113,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, while the Tuesday, November 21 episode dropped to 680,000 total viewers and 76,000 in the key demo.
At the time, an MSNBC source told The Daily Beast they expected a ratings dip after the election and anticipated viewing figures going back up once Trump officially returned to the White House. That prediction has turned out to be correct.
On Monday, February 3, each program in MSNBC’s 4 pm to 10 pm lineup registered more than one million total viewers, per ProgrammingInsider, with Rachel Maddow leading the pack with 2.106 million viewers. Maddow has returned to hosting her show five nights a week for Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell followed with 1.521 million viewers, while Inside With Jen Psaki reached 1.044 million viewers.
MSNBC averaged 1.557 million viewers for the night, ahead of CNN with 0.619 viewers but behind Fox News with 3.773 million viewers.
In December, there were reports that MSNBC anchors Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle were offered pay cuts to remain at the network. The Ankler newsletter also reported that Jonathan Lemire, who was recently moved to a permanent co-host slot on Morning Joe’s 9 a.m. hour, has been offered a new contract at a reduced salary.
Then, on January 14, MSNBC’s president, Rashida Jones, announced that she was stepping down after four years at the helm of the cable news channel.
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