Breaking News | November 29, 2023
Posts Viewership Gains vs. Prior Year, While CNN and FOX News Decline
Adds More Viewers Year Over Year Than Any Other Top 25 Cable Network
MSNBC Primetime Lineup Tops CNN for 84th Consecutive Month, Expands Advantage Versus a Year Ago
MSNBC Reports Beats CNN in Dayside for 14th Straight Month
“Morning Joe” Beats CNN in A25-54 for 19 Straight Months and Total Viewers for 105 Straight Months, Ranks #1 in Cable in NY and D.C.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” #1 Cable News Program on Mondays at 9pm
“Deadline: White House,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “Alex Wagner Tonight,” and Monday’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” Top CNN in Both A25-54 and Total Viewers
Most Loyal, Engaged Weekday Audience in All of TV; Viewers Spend Twice as Much Time Watching MSNBC as CNN
#1 Cable News Destination Among Asian Viewers and Black Viewers
MSNBC Digital Had its Strongest Month in More Than Two Years
MSNBC Digital Ranks As #1 Political News Video Destination
MSNBC Expected to Surpass CNN and FOX News On YouTub
(NEW YORK – Nov. 29, 2023) – MSNBC swept CNN for the 20th straight month in total viewers and posted viewership gains across key dayparts versus the prior year, according to Nielsen data. MSNBC also expanded its audience, adding more viewers year over year than any other Top 25 cable network (+27K versus November 2022).
MSNBC total day viewership increased versus a year ago (+3% vs. Nov. 2022) and versus two years ago (+17% vs. Nov. 2021), while both Fox News (-25%) and CNN (-15%) had double-digit declines year over year. MSNBC had weekday viewing gains in the morning (6-10am: +17% vs. Nov. 2022), dayside (10am-4pm: +13%), and from 4pm to midnight (+4%), whereas Fox News and CNN lost viewers in all three dayparts.
In weekday prime (M-F 8-11pm), MSNBC beat CNN for the 84th straight month in total viewers (1.4 million vs. CNN’s 611K). MSNBC expanded its viewer advantage over CNN (+134%) compared to a year ago (+74%). MSNBC’s primetime lineup continues to draw twice as many Independents and Republicans as CNN’s, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion.
In dayside (M-F 10am-4pm), MSNBC was #2 in all of cable among total viewers. “MSNBC Reports” topped CNN for the 14th consecutive month in total viewers (827K vs. CNN’s 643K).
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (Mondays at 9pm) was the #1 cable news program in its time slot. “Maddow” (2.4M) drew nearly five times as many viewers as CNN’s “The Source” on Monday nights (489K) and 20% more viewers than Monday telecasts of “Hannity” (2.0M). “Maddow” is the most “DVR’d” show in cable news, with more time-shifted viewers (838K within three days of air date) than FOX News’ “Gutfeld!” (647K), “The Five” (623K), and “Jesse Watters Primetime” (462K). The MSNBC original podcast, “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra,” was also one of Apple Podcasts’ Top 10 most shared podcasts in 2023.
“Morning Joe” (M-F 6-10am) continues to sweep CNN in the mornings, beating CNN in A25-54 for the 19th straight month (120K vs. CNN’s 77K) and in total viewers for the 105th straight month (1.03M vs. CNN’s 366K). Across all of cable, MSNBC ranked #2 for 33 straight months in the mornings. “Morning Joe” delivered year-over-year viewing gains among both total viewers (+17%) and A25-54 (+9%). “Morning Joe” was the #1 cable morning program in New York for the 18th consecutive month and in Washington D.C. for the 19th consecutive month.
Several weekday programs beat CNN among both A25-54 and total viewers, including “Deadline: White House” (4-6pm), “The Beat with Ari Melber” (6pm), “Inside with Jen Psaki” (Mondays at 8pm), and “Alex Wagner Tonight” (9pm). “Deadline” extended its total viewer winning streak versus CNN to 77 months, in addition to ranking #1 in cable news in the 4pm hour for the 7th time in the past 8 months. “The Beat” extended its total viewer winning streak to 43 months, and “Alex Wagner Tonight” extended its winning streak to 16 months. For “Inside with Jen Psaki,” which premiered on Monday nights on 9/25, it was the 2nd straight month beating CNN in total viewership and the first time winning in the A25-54 demo.
MSNBC has the most loyal and engaged weekday audience in all of television. According to Nielsen data for November, the average MSNBC viewer watched the network for an average of 476 minutes from Monday to Friday, more than doubling the CNN viewer average (237 minutes).
MSNBC’s programming attracts the most diverse cable news audience in America, beating CNN and FOX News among Black and Asian viewers in November. MSNBC has ranked #1 in cable news among Black viewers for 34 straight months and among Asian viewers for 9 straight months.
In October, MSNBC Digital had its strongest month in more than two years with 26 million unique visitors, growing by more than +53% year-over-year. MSNBC ranked as one of the top three Political News destinations in October and surpassed Politico for a second straight month. MSNBC is consistently the number one Political News destination for digital video with more video viewers, views and minutes consumed than the competition.
In November, MSNBC is pacing to deliver more than 200 million video views on YouTube for the fourth straight month with year-over-year gains. MSNBC is also currently pacing ahead of both CNN and FOX News on YouTube, a position it’s held for five of the last six months. MSNBC has seen more than 20 videos reach more than 1 million views on YouTube this month.
On Peacock, MSNBC is expected to have one of its top five months on record in November with hours viewed up more than 120% year-over-year. The last seven months have been the brand’s most-watched ever on the platform.
TV Source: Nielsen. Live+SD. November 2023 ratings data. Average audience based on Total Day (6am-6am), Persons 2+, unless indicated. Program averages exclude repeats. Time-shifted viewers (i.e., non-Live): watching via DVR up to 3 days after original air date. Average weekday minutes per viewer based on M-F 6am-6am.
Source: Comscore Media Metrix® , April 2021 – October 2023, U.S. & Comscore Video Metrix®, April 2021 – September 2023, U.S. desktop internet population 2+ and mobile internet population 13+ years old. YouTube Analytics Portal, November 2023. DAVD, November 2023.
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MSNBC Press Contact:
Lorie Acio
Hollie Tracz
Natalie Munio
