MSNBC’s Maddow Sees Viewership Crater After Trump’s Landslide Victory
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has faced a dramatic drop in her viewership following the 2024 presidential election, where President-elect Donald Trump secured a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to recent data reported by One America News, The Rachel Maddow Show has seen its audience shrink by 43% since Trump’s win, with the program now drawing an average of just 1.4 million viewers. Analysts compared the show’s performance from January 1, 2024, through Election Day to its viewership after November 6.
Maddow, who scaled back her program to a weekly format in 2022 to focus on other endeavors, remains one of MSNBC’s most recognizable figures. She recently signed a lucrative contract to continue her role at the network. However, her appeal among the coveted 25-54 demographic has taken an even bigger hit. In this key age group, Maddow has lost 56% of her audience post-election, now averaging 103,000 viewers—an alarming decline given the demographic's importance to advertisers.
Once a nightly presence on MSNBC, Maddow’s show was among the top-rated cable news programs, boasting millions of viewers during its peak. However, since shifting to a weekly schedule, her time slot has been largely handed off to Alex Wagner, who just recorded her lowest-rated week to date.
Maddow continues to appear during significant events like Election Night and spends much of her time on side projects, including podcasts. Despite this reduced workload, her contract reportedly pays her $25 million annually over five years—a figure that some MSNBC insiders have contested.
Fox News media analyst Joe Concha commented on the hefty deal, stating, “What was surprising is that MSNBC still doled out $25 million to her to work one night a week. And the return on investment is that she finishes a distant second to Sean Hannity at 9 P.M. Is that money well spent? Rhetorical question.”
Maddow has built her brand on vocal opposition to Donald Trump, famously pushing discredited theories linking him to Russia. Her show thrived during periods of intense scrutiny on Trump, averaging 2.5 million viewers in 2017 and peaking at 3.2 million in 2020. However, her audience began to wane in 2021 after she scaled back her workload.
Before the 2024 election, Maddow openly warned that Trump’s re-election would make him “a dictator.” Despite this dire prediction, her program has suffered significantly in the wake of his victory, with its ratings now falling behind even reruns of Ancient Aliens.
The broader ratings decline isn’t limited to Maddow or MSNBC. The Independent reports that CNN has seen a 33% drop in total-day viewers, averaging 357,000, with just 65,000 in the key demo. Primetime ratings for MSNBC have plummeted 52%, averaging 644,000 viewers overall and 63,000 in the 25-54 demographic. CNN’s primetime ratings have dropped by 39%, averaging 453,000 viewers.
In stark contrast, Fox News has experienced a surge in post-election viewership, rising 24% year-to-date and averaging 3 million primetime viewers, cementing its dominance in the cable news arena.
“This is a difficult time, and they needed to keep her,” an MSNBC executive told The Ankler, defending Maddow’s contract. “No one else can do what she does. You can’t build a brand like it overnight.” Another executive described Maddow as “ratings Viagra.”
Meanwhile, progressive commentator Cenk Uygur, founder of The Young Turks podcast, has expressed optimism about Trump’s presidency. Uygur recently shifted his stance, stating that it is the political establishment—not Trump’s supporters—that poses the real “enemy.”