Posted on 07/25/2017 6:59:05 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
There’s no denying it… President Trump has been shaking up the television ratings game ever since he came down the golden escalator. And now, with outrage (or fauxrage in many cases) being the top menu item on the TV menu, MSNBC seems to be reaping the rewards. And if this isn’t a blip on the radar, it’s truly phenomenal. For the first time in the network’s entire history, they finished the week number one in total viewership in prime time, not just among the cable news channels, but for all cable networks.
For the first time in the networks 21-year history, MSNBC finished the week as the most-watched cable network during weekday prime (M-F 8-11pm) in total viewers. According to Nielsen, MSNBC ended the week of July 17-21 as the #1 cable network for all weekday prime, averaging 2.34 million viewers, ahead of FOX News at 2.25 million. MSNBC was previously #1 in cable news in weekday prime during the weeks of May 15, 2017 (behind TNT) and September 3, 2012 (behind USA) among total viewers, but this was the 1st time MSNBC was #1 among all of cable.
Additionally, MSNBCs 7pm through midnight lineup was the #1 cable network in total viewers.
There’s no denying that MSNBC is rising in numbers, but the next obvious question is… where are they coming from? Fox slipped a little bit, but what really seems to account for the shift is a combination of two things. The first is a partial collapse in CNN’s viewership and the second, when you look at the total number of all news consumers, is that there are new viewers entering the prime time news market. People who might previously have been watching a reality show or some prime time network offering are checking in on the news.
Friday provides a pretty good example of why the total week went to MSNBC and (I can’t believe I’m typing this) Rachel Maddow did most of the heavy lifting. Here’s the Friday chart from TV Newser.
It can’t be sugarcoated. Rachel Maddow took a wrecking ball to the competition. Her show was through the roof on Friday night, pulling the network’s total numbers up significantly and probably sealing the deal for the week. Credit where due, I suppose. I’ve never even found that show to be watchable for more than four minutes before I wanted to jam a pencil in my ear, but this is a capitalist system and the market goes where it will.
One other note of interest is that the decision by MSNBC to add some Republicans to the lineup doesn’t seem to be hurting them. On Friday, the new 4 o’clock show from Nicolle Wallace was doing much better than her predecessor. She even managed to edge out Jake Tapper in total viewers in that slot. Could some of this new surge in viewership be coming from crossover conservatives and right leaners checking out the new offerings? We’ll need a few months of sustained data to be sure, but something is changing. There’s no denying it.
“Id rather die than watch the Madcow or anyone on MSNBC. But I dont watch any of them, no more FoxNews for me, either. Let the Murdoch boys ride it off a cliff.”
Your comment illustrates what is happening. That is, people just don’t watch news shows at all anymore in large numbers. All of the channels have been discredited as rank bullshiite. Madcow gets the larger share of an ever shrinking audience. Who the heck cares what the liars and thieves of the media throw up anymore? The Internet blogs are where people go to get their information in the Trump era.
That's the story. The young Murdoch's have ceded their dominance to MSNBC
This because many have turned off Fox but the real haters cant get enough and have rallied behind hate headquarters.
Serious questions...
How in hell can NBC (source of the first link in the article) determine how many people aged 25-54 viewed anything?
How do they even determine the total viewers?
Do the cable providers sell their info to these phony polls? If they do, how can they know the age of the viewers?
“The Five” is an unmitigated disaster, right in the middle of the FOX prime-time lineup.
That’s where FOX viewership falls right off the edge of the cliff.
Invalid Survey. All the Satellite and Cable Networks would have to offer all the news channels surveyed in a single package & that’s not what’s happening now.
Dish Network
$19.95 Smart Pack only has MSNBC for news. Who’s going to go for the cheaper lineup?
To get Fox News, you have to pay over $80.
How Bad Has Trump Derangement Syndrome Gotten? Or how bad Fox News has gotten?
Satellite/Cable Programming Packages Have MSNBC At #1.
You know what I call winning with a share that small? A Pyrrhic victory.
“When Obama spoke at the Jamboree, didnt the Scouts chant ‘O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!’?”
You forgot the, “Oh, wait...”
Fox is slowly but surely destroying itself. Roger Ailes knew what he was doing, the Murdoch brats don’t. They should have jettisoned Smith and Cavuto, begged O’Reilley to return, and moved Tucker Carlson into the slot now held by The Five (which has brought a new definition to the word tiresome). Fox should be on the lookout for talent other than shrill blond bimbos. It needs a revamping of its week-end lineup, and should add a good Sunday news show. It won’t do any of the above and it will bleed viewers.
I have Dish, and I have Fox and Fox Business and I sure don’t pay $80.
The entire point of Maddow’s snarky show is to persuade Americans to hate conservatives and Republicans. The propaganda may be ham-fisted, but it works plenty well on weak or unstable minds such as that of the Scalise shooter.
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