MSNBC Adds More Viewers Year Over Year Than Any Other Cable Network
More Viewers Start Their Day with MSNBC Than Any Other Cable Network
MSNBC Digital Pacing to Have One of Its Strongest Months in Three Years, Surpasses All Cable News Networks on YouTube and TikTok
(New York – May 29, 2024) – Through the first five months of 2024, MSNBC is having its most-watched year since 2021, with two consecutive years of audience gains. According to Nielsen ratings data, MSNBC is the fastest-growing cable network, adding more viewers in the past year than any other cable network. MSNBC has posted five consecutive months of year-over-year viewership growth.
In 2024 to date, MSNBC has its largest viewership advantage over CNN in network history. Through May, MSNBC is averaging 74% more viewers in total day than CNN in the average minute. May marked MSNBC’s 26th straight monthly win over CNN. In the key A25-54 demographic, MSNBC topped CNN for the third straight month.
Additionally, MSNBC has the most loyal and engaged weekday audience in all of television, based on Nielsen data from the past 52 weeks. In a typical week, the average MSNBC viewer watches the network for 506 minutes from Monday to Friday, beating the FOX News viewer average (498 minutes) and more than doubling the CNN viewer average (248 minutes).
Most-Watched Network for Trump Trial Recaps at 4pm, #1 in New York and D.C. on Trump Trial Days
During the historic New York criminal trial against former President Trump, more Americans turned to MSNBC than to any other cable network each day at 4pm for immediate reactions, recaps, and analysis on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace”.
Across all trial days to date, more viewers turned to MSNBC than CNN among both A25-54 and total viewers. Additionally, more adults A25-54 turned to MSNBC than any other cable news network on the night of May 13, with special coverage after the first day of testimony by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. MSNBC’s two-hour primetime recap was MSNBC’s most-watched special of 2024 to date and featured insights and analysis from Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Ari Melber, Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner, Lawrence O’Donnell, Stephanie Ruhle, and Jen Psaki.
#1 Cable Network in Top Markets Across the U.S. Including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco
Year to date, MSNBC is the most-watched cable network in 5 of the top 10 television markets among total viewers. In May, MSNBC was the #1 cable network in Washington, D.C. for the 14th straight month, in Los Angeles and San Francisco for the 12th straight month, and in Philadelphia for the 7th straight month. MSNBC has ranked #1 in New York in 11 of the past 13 months. MSNBC beat CNN in each of the top 25 television markets for the 8th straight month.
#1 Cable Network Among AAPI Viewers, #1 Cable News Network Among Black Viewers
In 2024 to date, MSNBC is the most-watched cable network among AAPI viewers and most-watched cable news network among Black viewers. Additionally, MSNBC added more Black viewers in the past year than any other cable news network.
More Viewers Start Their Day with MSNBC Than Any Other Cable Network, “Morning Joe” Continues to Dominate CNN in the Mornings
MSNBC is the most-watched cable network on weekdays in the 6am hour. In May 2024, “Morning Joe” (M-F 6am-10am) topped CNN for the 111th consecutive month among total viewers and 25th straight month among A25-54.
Compared to May 2023, “Morning Joe” grew its audience by double-digits among both total viewers and A25-54 (6am-10am: +10% total viewers, +11% A25-54). Additionally, “Morning Joe” was the #1 cable morning program in New York for the 24th straight month and in Washington, D.C. for the 25th consecutive month.
MSNBC Prime Beats CNN Among A25-54 for 4th Straight Month, “The Rachel Maddow Show” Ranks #1 in Its Time Slot
MSNBC prime (M-Su 8pm-11pm) topped CNN among A25-54 for the 4th straight month and among total viewers for the 40th straight month. Year to date, MSNBC is drawing its largest primetime audience since 2021. All weekday MSNBC programs from 4pm-12am topped CNN among A25-54 and total viewers for the third consecutive month.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (Mondays at 9pm) was the #1 news program in its time slot for the 4th straight month. “Maddow” (2.4 million viewers) outpaced Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” on Monday nights (2.3 million) and drew four times as many total viewers as CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” (632K).
In 2024 to date, “Maddow” is the most DVR’d program in all of cable news, with more time-shifted viewers (900K within seven days of air date) than any other cable news program. Over the past two years, the “Maddow” audience has grown by +17%. On Monday, May 20, during Rachel Maddow’s exclusive interview with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, MSNBC ranked #1 in all of cable and drew four times as many total viewers and twice as many A25-54 viewers as CNN.
“The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” (Monday-Friday 10pm) averaged three times as many total viewers (1.5 million) as CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip” (483k). Over the past two years, “The Last Word” audience has grown by +27%.
“MSNBC Reports” Beats CNN in Dayside for 20th Straight Month, Draws Largest Audience in 3 Years
In dayside (M-F 10am-4pm), MSNBC beat CNN among total viewers for the 20th consecutive month. MSNBC dayside coverage saw double-digit viewership growth among total viewers and A25-54 compared to a year ago. Year to date, MSNBC’s dayside programming is drawing its largest audience in three years.
MSNBC Weekend Programming Tops CNN in Total Viewers, Posts Year-Over-Year Audience Gains
In May, MSNBC’s weekend lineup (Sa-Su 8am-9pm) beat CNN among total viewers for the 6th straight month and averaged 5% more viewers than a year ago.
MSNBC Digital Pacing to Have One of Its Strongest Months in Three Years, Surpassing All Cable News Networks on Social Platforms In Video Views
April and May 2024 have been the two strongest months for MSNBC Digital in more than three years with page views growing more than 45% year-over-year each month thanks to strength on multiple platforms. The MSNBC mobile app, which launched in late March 2024, saw its second month of growth, pacing up 8% versus the prior month’s performance. The brand’s newsletter MSNBC Daily also reached new heights, surpassing 500,000 subscribers in May 2024. It has grown its audience by more than 25% since May 2023.
On YouTube and TikTok, MSNBC is pacing ahead of all other cable news networks. On YouTube, MSNBC is expected to surpass both CNN and Fox News for a seventh straight month with more than 200 million video views. It would be the channel’s fifth consecutive month surpassing this level, pacing up more than 25% year-over-year. MSNBC also continues to be the most-watched news brand on YouTube, a position it’s held for each of the last six months.
MSNBC is pacing ahead of both CNN and Fox News on TikTok as well. May is expected to be one of MSNBC’s top 10 months ever on TikTok with more than three times as many views as the brand saw in the same month last year. Every month this year has notably been among the top 10 months on record.
The MSNBC original podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump is pacing to have its second-best month ever with more than three times as many downloads as the same month last year. May was the tenth straight month that the podcast has seen more than one million downloads as it continues to occupy one of the top spots on the Apple Charts among Politics podcasts.
According to Comscore, MSNBC Digital continued to see strong year-over-year gains, growing its reach by more than 35% year-over-year for the fourth straight month. MSNBC ranked as the second most-popular political news destination based on monthly unique visitors, in addition to ranking #1 based on total minutes spent on site.
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TV Source: Nielsen, Live+SD, 2024 to date (1/1/24-5/26/24) and May 2024 (4/29/24-5/2624), Persons 2+ and Adults 25-54. Total Day = M-Su 6am-6am. Consecutive years of audience growth and fastest-growing cable network: 2024 to date vs. 2023 to date (12/26/22-5/28/23) and 2022 to date (12/27/21-5/29/22).Total day average audience in 2024 to date: MSNBC 823k, CNN 474k. M-F 10a-4p, 2024 through 5/21 vs. full prior years, largest P2+ audience since 2021. Weekday time spent viewing based on 6-minute reach qualifier, M-F 6am-6am. Race and Ethnicity rankings based on time period data. Time-shifted viewers (i.e., non-Live): watching DVR up to 7 days after original air date, among cable news programs with minimum 6 telecasts in 2024 to date. Local market data based on: Nielsen NSI, P2+, total day, national cable networks, 2024 to date and May 2024.
Digital Source: Comscore Media Metrix® , April 2021 – April 2024, Desktop & Mobile excluding Social Incremental, Monthly Unique Visitors, U.S. & Comscore Video Metrix®, July 2023 – March 2024, Average Minutes per Visitor, Custom-Defined List, Based on MSNBC Channel @ YouTube entity compared to a custom list of brand competitors that are in the News/Information Category: ABC News Channel @ YouTube, NBC News @ YouTube, Fox News Channel @ YouTube, CNN @ YouTube, CBS News @ YouTube. ListenFirst Media, May 1 – 27, 2024.
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