Breaking News | August 29, 2023
“The Rachel Maddow Show” Wins August as #1 Cable Program in Total Viewers, #1 Cable News Program in A25-54 and Total Viewers
MSNBC Dominates CNN in A25-54 During Total Day, Mornings, and Prime; Beats CNN in Total Viewers During Total Day, Mornings, Dayside, Prime, and Weekends
“Morning Joe” #1 Cable Program Among Total Viewers from 6-9am, Delivers Most-Watched Month in More Than Two Years
“Deadline: White House” #1 in Cable News at 4pm in A25-54 for 4th Consecutive Month and Total Viewers for 5th Consecutive Month
“The Beat with Ari Melber” #1 at 6pm in A25-54 for the 1st Time Ever
“The ReidOut with Joy Reid” #1 at 7pm in A25-54 for the 1st Time Ever
“The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” #1 at 10pm Among Total Viewers
“The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle” #1 at 11pm in Total Viewers and A25-54 for the 1st Time Ever
“Inside with Jen Psaki” #1 Sundays at 12pm in Total Viewers, Most-Watched Month Since Launch
MSNBC Digital Reached Largest Audience This Year, Ranked as the Top Political News Destination
Finished August with Best Month Ever on Peacock, Last Four Months Strongest Ever on the Platform
#1 Cable Destination Among Black, Hispanic and Asian Viewers
(NEW YORK – August 29, 2023) – MSNBC swept CNN in key dayparts for the month of August, topping CNN in the A25-54 demographic during total day (M-Su 6am-2am), “Morning Joe,” and prime (M-F 8-11pm). In total viewers, MSNBC topped CNN during total day, “Morning Joe,” “MSNBC Reports” (M-F 10am-4pm), prime, and weekends (Sa-Su 6am-2am). MSNBC’s breaking news coverage and analysis surrounding the federal indictments of former President Donald Trump in the January 6th investigation and the 2020 Georgia election probe, as well as the first Republican presidential primary debate, propelled the network to its most-watched month in more than two years. While CNN and FOX News faced declines, MSNBC continued to deliver double-digit growth across every key daypart in A25-54 and total viewers.
In total day (M-Su 6am-2am), MSNBC added more viewers year over year than any other TV network among both total viewers (+168k) and A25-54 (+22k). August marked MSNBC’s best performance in total viewers since April 2021 and in A25-54 since May 2021. MSNBC beat CNN among A25-54 viewers with a 5,000 viewer advantage – MSNBC’s largest total day demo advantage since November 2019. Year over year, MSNBC viewership was up +23% in A25-54 and +19% in total viewers (vs. CNN’s -5% A25-54 and -3% total viewers; FOX News’ -32% A25-54 and -21% total viewers). Every MSNBC weekday program from 5am to midnight not only beat CNN in total viewers; it also delivered year-over-year viewership growth among both total viewers and A25-54. MSNBC has beaten CNN in 3 of the last 5 months among A25-54 and 30 of the last 31 months among total viewers (120k A25-54 and 1.1 million total viewers vs. CNN’s 115k A25-54 and 603k total viewers).
In prime (M-F 8-11pm), August marked MSNBC’s largest A25-54 advantage over CNN since February 2020. MSNBC transformed a 6,000 A25-54 viewer gap versus CNN in August 2022 into a 44,000 viewer advantage in August 2023. After cutting FOX News’ A25-54 lead by 75% year over year in July, MSNBC slashed it by another 14,000 viewers in August, shrinking FOX News’ lead in prime to only 26,000 (regular programming only, excluding Wed. 8/23). MSNBC beat CNN for the 7th straight month in A25-54 and 81st straight month in total viewers (215k A25-54 and 1.9 million total viewers vs. CNN’s 171k A25-54 and 801k total viewers). This was MSNBC’s best performance in total viewers since May 2021 and in A25-54 since March 2022. MSNBC’s primetime lineup regularly draws twice as many Independents and Republicans as CNN, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion.
In dayside (M-F 10am-4pm), “MSNBC Reports” beat CNN for the 11th consecutive month in total viewers (921k vs. CNN’s 682k). This was MSNBC’s best performance in total viewers since April 2021 and in A25-54 since April 2023.
In addition to MSNBC’s weekday dominance, MSNBC beat CNN on weekends (Sa-Su 6am-2am) in total viewers for the 6th straight month (556k vs. CNN’s 520k). MSNBC weekend programming also posted double-digit viewership growth in both total viewers (+16%) and A25-54 (+21%), while CNN and FOX News had viewership declines (CNN -4% in total viewers and -5% in A25-54; FOX News -23% in total viewers and -32% in A25-54).
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (Mondays at 9pm) was the most-watched cable program, finishing #1 in August among total viewers and #1 across cable news in A25-54. In its time slot, “Maddow” ranked #1 in cable news in both demos for the 4th straight month, beating CNN for the 17th straight month in A25-54 and 123rd straight month in total viewers (339K A25-54 and 3M total viewers vs. CNN’s 178K A25-54 and 832K total viewers and FOX News’ 260K A25-54 and 2.3M total viewers). In prime, “Maddow” was the #1 cable news program for the 4th straight month. “Maddow” had its most-watched month in more than two years (since March 2021 in total viewers; May 2021 in A25-54), delivering year-over-year gains among total viewers (+10%) and A25-54 (+16%).
“Morning Joe” dominated mornings in total viewers, ranking #1 across all of cable from 6am-9am. It was also the #1 cable morning program in New York for the 15th consecutive month and in Washington, D.C. for the 16th consecutive month. “Morning Joe” beat CNN’s morning program in A25-54 for the 16th straight month and in total viewers for the 102nd straight month (127k A25-54 and 1.1 million total viewers vs. CNN’s 74k A25-54 and 378k total viewers). “Morning Joe” also beat “FOX & Friends” among total viewers for the 1st time since March 2021 (1.11 million vs. FOX’s 1.09 million). The show was up versus the prior year +23% among both A25-54 and total viewers (vs. CNN’s -8% A25-54 and -5% total viewers; FOX News’ -33% A25-54 and -18% total viewers).
MSNBC ranked #1 in cable news during the following programs: “Deadline: White House” at 4-5pm in A25-54 for the 4th consecutive month and in total viewers for the 5th consecutive month (also #1 across all of cable among total viewers); “The Beat with Ari Melber” at 6pm in A25-54; “The ReidOut with Joy Reid” at 7pm in A25-54 for the 1st time; “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10pm among total viewers; “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle” at 11pm in total viewers and A25-54 for the 1st time; and “Inside with Jen Psaki” Sundays at 12pm in total viewers.
MSNBC has the most loyal and engaged weekday audience in cable news. According to Nielsen data for August, the average MSNBC viewer watched the network for 592 minutes per week, more than doubling CNN’s viewer average of 287 minutes and topping FOX News’ viewer average of 489 minutes.
MSNBC’s programming attracts the most diverse cable audience in America. In August, MSNBC was the #1 network across all of cable among Black, Hispanic, and Asian viewers. MSNBC has ranked #1 in cable news among Black viewers for 31 straight months and among Hispanic and Asian viewers for 5 straight months. MSNBC is home to the 10 highest-rated cable news programs among Black Americans. Across all of cable, MSNBC had 8 of the Top 20 programs among Black viewers in August: “The Rachel Maddow Show,” “The ReidOut with Joy Reid,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” “All In with Chris Hayes,” “Alex Wagner Tonight,” “Deadline: White House,” and “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle.” Additionally, MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton” had the highest concentration of Black viewers (41%) of any program on cable news.
In July, MSNBC Digital reached its largest audience since November 2022, growing more than 30% year-over-year. It was the 4th straight month of double-digit year-over-year growth in audience. MSNBC also continued to rank as the number one political news destination based on total minutes, a position it’s held for 28 consecutive months.
August was MSNBC’s strongest month ever on Peacock with hours viewed growing more than 350% year-over-year. On the day following Trump’s Georgia indictment, MSNBC had its strongest day since the 2022 Midterms and one of its top 10 days ever on the platform. The last four months have all been among the brand’s strongest ever on Peacock.
MSNBC podcasts are on track to have one of their three best months on record with more than 20 million downloads, pacing up 28% year-over-year. The original podcast “Prosecuting Donald Trump” had its best month ever in August and has seen more than 4.8 million lifetime downloads.
The following programs extended MSNBC’s winning streaks over CNN during their respective time slots:
- “Way Too Early” at 5am: 17 straight months in total viewers; also topped CNN in A25-54
- “Morning Joe” from 6am-10am: 102 straight months in total viewers; 16 straight months in A25-54
- #1 in cable news in total viewers for 6am-9am
- “Ana Cabrera Reports” at 10am; 15 straight months in total viewers
- “José Díaz-Balart Reports” at 11am: 6 straight months in total viewers
- “Andrea Mitchell Reports” at 12pm: 9 straight months in total viewers
- “Chris Jansing Reports” from 1pm-3pm: 15 straight months in total viewers
- “Katy Tur Reports” at 3pm: 16 straight months in total viewers
- “Deadline: White House” from 4pm-6pm: 74 straight months in total viewers; 7 straight months in A25-54
- In the 4pm hour, “Deadline: White House” ranked #1 in cable news among total viewers for the 5th month in a row and A25-54 for the 4th month in a row
- “The Beat with Ari Melber” at 6pm: 40 straight months in total viewers; 7 consecutive months in A25-54
- Ranked #1 in cable news among A25-54 for the 1st time ever since the show premiered in July 2017
- “The ReidOut with Joy Reid” at 7pm: 17 straight months in total viewers; 4 consecutive months in A25-54
- Ranked #1 in cable news among A25-54 for the 1st time ever since the show premiered in July 2020
- “All In with Chris Hayes” at 8pm: 17 straight months in total viewers; 4 months in A25-54
- “The Rachel Maddow Show” at 9pm: 123 straight months in total viewers; 17 straight months in A25-54
- “Maddow” ranked #1 in cable news among both demos on Mondays at 9pm for the 4th month in a row
- “Maddow” was the #1 non-sports program in all of cable on Monday nights in primetime (Mondays 8p-11p) among total viewers and is the #1 cable news program on Monday nights in primetime among A25-54
- “Alex Wagner Tonight” at 9pm: 13 straight months in total viewers; 7 straight months in A25-54
- “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10pm: 99 straight months in total viewers; 7 consecutive months in A25-54
- Ranked #1 in cable news among total viewers
- “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle” at 11pm: 85 straight months in total viewers, 10 straight months in A25-54
- Ranked #1 in cable news among total viewers and A25-54 for the 1st time since the show premiered in March 2022
- “The Katie Phang Show” Weekends at 8am: for the 2nd month in a row in total viewers
- “Velshi” Weekends from 10am-12pm: 5 straight months in total viewers
- “Alex Witt Reports” Saturdays from 12pm-2pm and Sundays from 1pm-2pm: 6 straight months in total viewers
- “Inside with Jen Psaki” Sundays at 12pm: 6 straight months in total viewers
- Ranked #1 in cable news among total viewers, drawing largest monthly audience to date
- “Yasmin Vossoughian Reports” Weekends from 2pm-4pm: 6 straight months in total viewers
- “Ayman” Saturdays from 8pm-10pm and Sundays at 9pm: 6 straight months in total viewers
TV Source: Nielsen. Live+SD. August 2023. Average audience based on Total Day (6am-2am), Persons 2+, unless indicated. Weekday = M-F 6am-2am. Program averages exclude repeats; “#1 cable program” claim based on programs with 4+ non-repeat telecasts in the 4-week Nielsen month. Note that for year-over-year comparisons, “Ana Cabrera Reports”, which premiered in April 2023, is compared to the time slot average in Aug. 2022.
Source: Comscore, Monthly Unique Visitors, U.S. desktop internet population 2+ and mobile internet population 13+ years old, July 2023. Adobe Analytics for Peacock. Simplecast for Podcast Downloads.
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MSNBC Press Contact:
Lorie Acio
Hollie Tracz
Natalie Munio
