MSNBC's New Primetime Lineup Has Lost More Than 40 Percent Of Channel's Viewership

MSNBC debuted a new primetime lineup in May, in which former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki headlined. The network also introduced a new panel show called "The Weeknight," featuring the not-so-esteemed trio of Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez.

For the month, the new lineup dropped 41 percent in viewership compared to May 2024. 

Notably, Psaki's average viewership of 973,000 was down 46 percent compared to Maddow's average of 1.82 million so far this year in the same 9 pm time slot. For reference, Maddow moved back to a once-a-week schedule in May.

According to Mediaite, Psaki’s average was also down 20 percent from Alex Wagner’s average during the same period in 2024, when Maddow was also only hosting Mondays.

At 7 pm, "The Weeknight" was down 36 percent compared to Joy Reid's 1.2 million average last year.

WASHINGTON, DC - Symone Sanders-Townsend and Gail Ross of WME attend WME's 2025 White House Correspondent's Toast on April 25, 2025. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images)

By comparison, CNN was also down in both total day and prime viewership year over year. Fox News saw respective gains of 21 percent and 23 percent in total day and primetime viewership.

Now, we understand no one tunes into local talk radio after the home team loses. And MSNBC is still reeling from Trump's victory in November. Still, those are concerning losses for a network that invested so heavily in its new lineup.

MSNBC needs to find a successor to Maddow, who has shown no interest in returning to a five-day-a-week schedule long term. Wagner wasn't the answer. Psaki is off to an even worse start than her.

As we reported last month, the long-term viability of a network like MSNBC is also in question. 

There was a time when MSNBC served the valuable market demand for providing even further left commentary to networks like CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS. However, the other networks have since caught up with MSNBC in terms of far-left partisanship and propaganda, greatly diminishing the network's value.

Don't believe us? Turn on any recent episode of "The View," "60 Minutes," or "Today." You'll find the same tiresome talking points at MSNBC: Trump is a Nazi. Trump is Hitler. Bloodbath! White people are racist. Threat to democracy!

No wonder viewership is so low.

Jen Psaki appears on "Meet the Press" in Washington D.C., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025 -- (Photo by: Shannon Finney/NBC via Getty Images)

What's more, MSNBC is no longer relevant in the conversation. 

At least Joy Reid generated buzz for her consistently hideous remarks. Truth be told, we didn't even know the network's new 7 pm show had launched. No one has said – or written – a word about it.

Even CNN is more relevant than MSNBC right now, thanks to Jake Tapper's new book revealing that he and nearly every other mainstream journalist covered up what ordinary Americans knew for years: Joe Biden was cognitively diminished long before the June debate.

There also doesn't appear to be a lever that MSNBC can turn to that'd improve matters. Previously, when in need of a ratings boost, network pinheads would recite the Russia Hoax. Most Americans now understand that the entire Russia story was made up, and MSNBC was largely responsible for the hysteria surrounding it.

There isn't even a liberal commentator on the outside whom the channel can hire to solve its issues. The biggest draw in left-wing media is Maddow – and, again, she doesn't want to work more than a day a week.

Thus, these low ratings and primetime averages of under 1 million viewers are likely to be the new norm. And that's quite a rapid fall for a network that was among the most watched on television just a few years ago.