MSNBC Ratings Plummet As Jen Psaki Replaces Rachel Maddow In Primetime Hours

MSNBC continues to suffer sharp declines in viewership following its recent primetime shakeup, which placed former White House press secretary Jen Psaki in the network’s coveted 9 p.m. slot, as reported by the Free Beacon.

According to internal ratings data reported by the Daily Mail, Psaki’s new show, The Briefing, has failed to draw audiences at the levels previously seen by Rachel Maddow, whose show previously occupied that time.

Since the switch, MSNBC has seen its ratings plummet by 41 percent in the key 25-54 demographic during primetime and 34 percent across the total broadcast day compared to the same time last year.

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Psaki’s show has averaged 973,000 total viewers, a drop of 46 percent from Maddow’s earlier numbers in the same slot.

The drop was especially steep on May 7, the day after Psaki officially began hosting the time slot on Tuesdays through Fridays. According to Fox News, MSNBC’s demo viewership collapsed from 139,000 to just 65,000 viewers in the 25-54 age group, marking a 53 percent decline.

Psaki, who served as President Joe Biden’s press secretary from January 2021 to May 2022, has faced criticism for her role in shaping public messaging during Biden’s presidency.

Her transition to media has been met with mixed reviews, especially amid concerns about objectivity and credibility.

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Her May 22 broadcast drew only 973,000 total viewers, with a mere 55,000 in the key 25-54 demographic. In comparison, Hannity on Fox News, which airs in the same time slot, brought in 2.3 million viewers overall and 210,000 in the same demo that evening.

MSNBC’s broader primetime overhaul has also struggled. The Weeknight, a new panel-format show featuring Symone Sanders, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez, replaced Joy Reid’s The ReidOut but has yet to gain traction.

On May 22, the show pulled in only 707,000 viewers, with 56,000 in the target demographic—a 36 percent decline compared to the network’s performance in the same slot last year.

Even Maddow’s scaled-back, once-a-week version of her show has seen a downturn. Now airing only on Mondays, The Rachel Maddow Show has averaged 1.8 million total viewers—down 24 percent from last year’s average of 2.4 million, according to the Daily Mail.

MSNBC’s parent company, Comcast, previously announced it was re-evaluating its relationship with the network, citing long-term ratings struggles and operational changes.

The network’s primetime experiment, thus far, appears to be failing to stabilize viewership or compete with its cable news rivals.

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