MSNBC Ratings Crater On Thursday As Viewers Tune Out

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

MSNBC saw its audience crater on Thursday, just days after the left-of-center network beat CNN in election night ratings for the first time ever.

Thursday’s total average daily viewers on Fox News came in at 2.6 million and 375,000 in the coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen data. Meanwhile, MSNBC brought in only 596,000 total viewers and 71,000 in the demo. CNN brought in 419,000 total viewers on Thursday and 91,000 viewers in the demo.

Fox News was up some 60 percent year over year for the day, while MSNBC and CNN were down 23 and 40 percent – respectively. In prime time the news was even more bleak for CNN and MSNBC as they shed 30 percent and 54 percent of their viewers, respectively, compared to the same day last year. MSNBC host Alex Wagner had her lowest-rated show ever in terms of total viewers, while Chris Hayes’s show brought in its worst numbers since May of 2016.

Fox News also dominated election night with over 10.3 million average viewers from 8 to 11 pm, further extending the network’s long reign atop the cable news industry.

On Tuesday night MSNBC scored an impressive 6 million average viewers, which was enough to eclipse CNN’s 5.1 million. CNN, longtime the home for breaking news events, saw its audience nearly halve since 2020 when it brought in 9.6 million average total viewers during election night.

MSNBC’s inability to keep its audience tuned in throughout the week signals a potential mood shift on the left as hope for a Kamala Harris victory has quickly soured into defeat and anxiety while awaiting Donald Trump’s return to power in January.

Overall television viewership of election night was down significantly from 2020, some 25 percent across the 18 major news networks measured by Nielsen. The 42.3 million viewers who tuned into either broadcast or cable news on Tuesday night represent those Americans who have yet to fall prey to cord-cutting and other trends shifting viewers away from linear TV.

This is a developing story and has been updated.

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Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing