Champagne corks were flying at MSNBC in June, as the news network is significantly closing the gap against Fox and CNN for the much-coveted 25-to-54 age primetime viewer demographic in the second quarter of 2023. With a 23% hike in the age-bracket advertisers favor most with ad spending, and a 16% rise in total viewership, MSNBC is generating momentum at a time its largest competitors are losing ground, according to Nielsen ratings.
MSNBC also clocked in at second place for total primetime viewership in June while also finishing second in total daytime viewers, gaining 14% of total day viewers in June, while adding 20% of viewers in the 24-54 demographic over the same time period.
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The left-leaning network’s ascension comes at a time when broadcast news mainstays CNN and Fox are losing viewers at an alarming clip. Both networks have suffered double-digit declines in the past month as internal struggles have seemingly impacted viewer numbers.
Fox News lost a whopping 37% of viewers in its May 2022 to May 2023 primetime numbers.
The number one cable news network has yet to recover from its surprise dismissal of Tucker Carlson, who delivered big numbers in his 8 PM EST slot for years. Carlson averaged about 3.25 million viewers in March, the last full month his show was aired. Since then, Fox has averaged about half that number with multiple fill-in hosts for the 8 PM prime time period.
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CNN is floundering as well, as it lost 21% of its 25-to-54 viewers in May.
Parent company Warner Brothers Discovery shuttered CNN+ immediately after its recent merger. The network also ditched CEO Chris Licht who presided over a massive ratings dive as he sought to moderate the network’s news coverage, which didn’t go over well with long-time viewers.
As CNN and Fox News stumble, MSNBC is taking full advantage.
The network is gaining fast on industry leader Fox News, tightening the total viewer gap to just 174,000 in June. MSNBC has also generated double-digit viewer growth across the board, led by weekday news broadcast Katy Tur Reports (up 44%), The Beat With Ari Melber (up 28% in total viewers), and Monday night’s The Rachel Maddow Show (the leading primetime cable news show).
With wall-to-wall coverage of the 2024 presidential election already on the horizon, there’s no doubt CNN and Fox will double efforts to regain lost viewers, but it won’t be easy.
As the months of May and June have demonstrated, MSNBC isn’t backing down as it solidifies its burgeoning viewer base and closes the gap on two industry news leaders who’ve lost much of their luster.
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