Rachel Maddow’s death spiral, another week of record low ratings

Rachel Maddow can't quite put a finger on where her former viewers went

Things are not going well for MSNBC. Not for the network in general nor for Rachel Maddow in particular.

While the poor dear used to routinely and handily top 1,000,000 total viewers per night, she’s reached that lofty level only once in the last five weeks.

We’re very sad to report that this is her third week of record low ratings within that same five week period (it probably would have been four out of five, but we won’t hold the disrupted Thanksgiving week against her).

And just to make things even worse, her total viewers for the most recent five night period has reached an all-time low, clinging precariously just above the 4,000,000 level. Here are the grim details:

Date Total Viewers
Mon, Dec 14 755,000
Tues, Dec 15 857,000
Wed, Dec 16 915,000
Thur, Dec 17 -806,000
Fri, Dec 18 745,000
Total 4,078,000



It will be interesting to see what Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), MSNBC’s new owners, decide to do with the also-ran cable news network.

MSNBC is, of course, the network that once billed itself as the Obama Network. Apparently,“The Cartoon Network” was already taken.

Source: MediaBistro.com

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

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  • I feel extremely sorry for the unfortunate Americans who have not had the ability to get a college education. Many conservative bloggers do not seem to understand the basic Democratic agenda, part of which is to ensure that all Americans do get a good education, and a decent living wage. These are necessary conditions that must prevail for us to be able to follow the American Dream, and the "Pursuit of happiness" which was a basic human right proposed by the founders of this country. They also do not seem to understand that Republicans want to strip away everything good we have achieved in the last 100 yrs, solely in order to fill their own pockets. Oh, that and also some of them believe it will save their souls. HOW WRONG CAN YOU BE? They are doing the exact opposite of that for sure. Anyone who thinks otherwise has not understood Christianity either.

    • The Democratic agenda is actually to ensure that every American get a "good LIBERAL education," and that they get a decent living wage whether they want to work for it or not. Look at what you're saying. We are guaranteed the right to PURSUE happiness, not have it handed to us on a silver platter.

      And I'm not a Christian, so I'm not required to understand Christianity.

    • Yes, I have had the displeasure of watching her show a few times, and I think she stinks as a journalist. Of course, you're "educated," so we unwashed people must listen to you, and take what you say as the gospel truth.

      • Madcow is an extremely lazy host, & she's not nearly as bright as she & her supportors think she is. Being smug is not substitute for substance, but then again, being the darling of the left wing media is no substitute for sh!tty ratings. Might be a reason her old employer, Air America went defunct, & it might be why Madcow gets her ass handed to her every ratings book by Hannity.

        Once again, I feel Madcow is an affirmitive action recipient, because I cannot see any evidence that she has earned any "success" she has had in her broadcast career. Plus, since she has had her ass kissed every step of the way in her "rise" in the MSM, she has no idea why she should work to improve her craft. That would mean she would mean a total overhaul of how she does, what she does. My hope is that ComCast does'nt wait that long. They should cut their losses before they add up.

  • It is refreshing to read these comments. Most the writers must live under rocks.
    Rachel Maddow does more research on the stories she reports than any of the News Networks--not including CNN or Fox, because CNN lite news (Cooper Anderson) which is never researched with any depth and Fox is simply entertainment/propaganda: witness the 1 million donated to the Republican party last week by Fox's parent News Corp.
    Rachel constantly invites both sides on her show and is always polite with them when they show up.
    But if you cannot see that, you either don't watch the show and instead watch clips on Fox or you are blinded by your beliefs. Either way makes you a very unhappy person and I am sorry your life is so sad.

    • Again, I want to know why she is the "it girl"? Why is she being pushed to the forefront & by who? Maddow's AirAmerica radio gig was a failure, & so is her MSNBC gig. Despite dozens of stories in the MSM papers about how great she is & how her shows were next big thing, she flopped. Her ratings suck, & no ratings means no show sponsers, which means no revenue, which means the show goes away.

      The sad thing is that since Maddow is promoted all the time despite failing at every turn, she'll never learn what she is doing wrong & why she is failing to attract an audience outside of Mannhattan, The Beltway, Hollywood, The Bay Area, & a few folks in gender studies classes in America's universities. Not exactly a fourmula for success, that & she's lazy compared to people like Hannity & Beck, who are killing themselves on TV, radio, & with major outside projects. On top of that, Hannty & Beck understand how to get an audience, keep it, & bring in new members when/if other leave. Maddow does not know that, & my guess is she will never learn that because she is now propped up by General Electric, who has had no standards in terms of ratings performance at MSNBC. Must be nice not to have to perform & get paid millions, she's almost like a lottery winner.

      • Yes, Hannity & Beck know how to draw a crowd. They are entertainers and their main purpose is to entertain. They have their views and nothing and NOBODY will change them. Especially Back. The man seems a bit insane. I would definitely be uncomfortable next to him. OTOH, Maddow tries to report things as they are, her purpose is to inform. You know, with evidence and shit. She does have a liberal slant but that's OK unless you're from the extreme right.

        • Maddow is beyond liberal, even with "evidence and shit". Her biggest thing seems to be snark & talking AT you, not talking TO you. Plus she really is NOT entertaining, & in the media today, that's not good. She has never really been able to pull ratings, despite all of the elite MSM types kissing her ass, & I just believe she is as big as she will ever get. There is no growth potential for what she does, & that should bother anyone thinking about signing her pachecks in the future.

  • Maddow is good at what she does. She may have the best research staff on News. Everyone here sounds homophobic. I used to be. I actually like Maddow because she is bright. The Playboy/Penthouse wannabes on Fox News are simply stupid. Of course men may like them, men think Sarah Palin could be president. President of the I'm Trying to Learn Anything School of no knowledge. Seriously, the real problem with every show from CNN to Fox to MSNBC is they are not fact driven but are profit driven. Everyone of these folks are entertainers not News Anchors. It's all about nothing but how much more Cheese Whiz is sold by your rating. Television is an Industry. Profits. Remember that no matter who you choose to watch!

    • Janis, you're making a really big, and incorrect, assumption here. We wouldn't mind Rachel being a lesbian. That really doesn't matter. It's her positions on the issues that we can't tolerate, and the smarmy delivery. She's a mean tempered, nasty bitch. The fact that she likes girls doesn't matter. Hell, I like girls myself.

    • So you don't like coperate media, so I'm guessing that you want the gov't to regulate or maybe just run the media? I don't, & I really don't believe we don't need PBS or NPR. State run media is really not a good thing. That usually ends up being a clamp down on what kind of speech you can engage in, & leads to speech codes.

      As for the "Playboy/Penthouse wannabes", really? Do you have a problem with attractive women on cablenews? Does America want Rachel Maddow or Rosie O'Donnell telling them what's going on? No way, & you know how I know? The free market, you know, those profit driven media companies who compete for viewers/listeners/readers, they have seen what Americans like & it's Megyn Kelly, NOT Rachel Maddow. Sorry Janis, capitalism is boss, & there is nothing you can do about it.

  • Rachel, you should focus more on both sides and do what fox is doing. true journalism is to never choose one side over the other and make sure that you are looking out for all of your fellow Americans and not just a chosen few. You have truly demonstrated that you are are a true hater and you are extremely homophobic. clean up your act and be a true journalist. maybe you will regain the trust of your viewers again.

  • democratic dike cant last much longer, but if G.E. gets some stimulas money then obama can count it as a job saved!!!!!!!

  • "25 minutes of humiliation followed by one minute of glory."

    Is that a description of Matthews performance on jeopardy or with the ladies?

  • Did you happen to see the brainiac Chris Matthews on Jeopardy? Mr. Thrill up his leg... matched his ratings. He was the ODDBALL.

    • Yes, I watched it just to see Matthews' performance. For the first 25 minutes of the show he was just as pathetic as Wolf Blitzer and Soledad O'Brien were on earlier editions of Celebrity Jeopardy. Then he got lucky in the last minute and swept a category. He risked everything on Final Jeopardy, came up with the right answer and ended up with $20,000. He came in second only because sex addict/actor David Duchovney risked too much and gave the wrong answer on Final Jeopardy. 25 minutes of humiliation followed by one minute of glory.

      • I'll give Matthews credit where it's due. He took his chances, gambled big on the daily double & connected, & did very well in the end. He is still a numbskull, but he did well down the stretch. Was what he did against the run of play? Yep. But he almost won the day, & hell, he did better then Wolfy.

  • What a surprise that all the ignorant rethuglican selfish pricks that left comments happen to be the ones bashing Rachel Maddow.
    She is a breath of fresh air among a cloud of stupidity that permeates our airwaves. Of all the Fox News anchors, actually... .actors, how many are Rhodes Scholars? Oh wait, I forgot I am preaching to people who praise "retards" like Sarah Palin and think that a college education breeds liberalism.

    • "Rhodes Scholars"--are you joking?
      I live in England and I can tell you that they can't hold a candle to the graduates of your top universities. Loonie lefties, every one of them.
      I have just spent 4 months in the US and fail to understand the Left's obsession with Sarah Palin. MSNBC, et al, must be really worried if they devote hundreds of hours of air time to bash this woman. Well, at least she is a woman!
      I am certain that calling people "retards" is insulting to handicapped people, of which I am one.

    • I watched Maddow a few times, and I'm going to have to disagree with your "breath of fresh air..." description. She seems to be (and here, this is just my opinion) a typical, far-left hate-monger with a chip on her shoulder. There are, now more than ever, really only two types of liberals; those that explode with hate and insults in the mere presence of anyone with opposing views, and those that spend their days buried in a snug blanket of self-induced and unwarranted superiority, mocking those that disagree while sweating to keep a smug smile on their face... like Maddow.

      And before you go throwing around terms like "Rhodes Scholar" from the lofty heights of that pedestal you've placed yourself on, you might want to actually read up on what the Scholarship is and entails, and whether or not you see the names of ANY news commentators from any network on the list of those that have received it.

      • Okay,

        So here's the thing...

        You obviously didn't read up on what the scholarship is and what it entails before you mounted your high horse and purged that synopsis. If you did, you would know that the Rhodes scholarship is one of the most prestigious accolades in the world (No, that's not an exaggeration... look it up). You would also know there have only been a little over 7,000 scholars sense its conception 109 years ago. The scholarship is based on a incomparable academic performance and an outstanding sense of character. You don't have to be a journalist or a political commentator to be a scholar. The scholarship is based on excellence not career choice.

        And, just if you were interested here are a few Rhodes scholars featured on Major network television:
        Geoffrey Cox
        E.J Dionne and
        Michael Kinsley

        All of whom are televised Journalist and Political commentators like RM. They may not be the host of their own TV show (Michael K excluded) because honestly; Rhodes scholars are few and far between and not all of them are interested in politics and Television? I’d like to think that goes without saying and I'm sure it does but what the hell.

        Now that my history lesson is over, I have to say; even if Rachel is far left she is no more smug or righteous then say one Bill O' Riley, Ann coulter or Glenn beck.

        ::Trots away, soapbox in hand::

        • They are ALL smug bastards which is why I do not watch ANY of them. It is also why I "tune in" to IHTM every day. Nevertheless, this WASP high-school dropout who has made millions during his life thinks those on the left "protesteth too much".

          IMHO, most of the highly educated folks I meet stop learning the moment they receive their credentials as if they have arrived. The great unwashed and uneducated (like me) are forced to learn every day and eventually move to the right, especially if you sign the front of paychecks and have to work in the real world.

          • Hmmm I don't entirely agree. IMHO RM uses sarcasm to point a finger at those who should be outed for the despicable things they do, regardless of what the people want and whether they are even following the rules they were sworn in to protect. I think you have to take everything you read & hear with a grain of salt. IMHO, Especially Things coming out of Fox news and their "Journalist" need to be evaluated thoroughly before considering anything they have to say as truth.

            So, now that I’ve at least said something on topic:

            I think you're entitled to your opinion. Your thought’s about where you come from and how you identify is your right and I can't argue with that. However, what does really piss me off is the assumption that I or anyone with a degree are somehow incapable of working our asses off; then we apparently discontinue our studies after reaching some kind of Intellectual nirvana? It's, it's just the most massive load of crap I’ve ever read!

            I mean sure, I've met plenty of self-absorbed spoon-fed douche nozzles (the hazards of private school), Who wouldn't know the meaning of hard Work If you spelled it out and broke it down a hundred times over. But for those of us who do know... that working class, blue collar- holier then thou " because I’m a small business contractor" thing, is getting old.

            [On a side note; for someone who identifies as unwashed and uneducated. I would consider re-evaluating that notion. If you have the know-how to make millions in your lifetime; you're smarter and wealthier then a majority of the American population; I'm just saying]

            Secondly, what kind of logic goes behind moving to the right, learning everyday and signing your own paychecks? I would never, EVER consider waltzing over to the right. Unless overnight the GOP decided to go old school 1850's on everybody with a living doctrine on the meaning "conservative". This country was built on protest! Some good and a clusterage of bad but nonetheless, all parties are guilty of wanting a change they can believe in, no? Now, that must have been one hell of a habitrail you've been trapped in if you think the left is "protesting too much". Currently there isn't a political movement in the country making more of a ruckus then the tea party.

            I, I work in the real world. I'm not living in some alternate reality and it's backasswards to imply that YOU or anyone like you somehow intrinsically know the "real" value of a dollar versus us washed and educated folk.

            // End of Rant//

          • Hey don't exclude IHTM from the Smug Bastards Club. We've worked hard to be members in good standing. In fact, we like to think we are the most smuggiest of all the bastards.

    • "She is a breath of fresh air among a cloud of stupidity that permeates our airwaves."

      MSNBC is a cable news service. They don't broadcast over "our airwaves" . Perhaps there is a future for you at Fox News . . . because obviously your not a Rhodes Scholar either.

      • My argument must be rock solid if thats the best you could come up with. By the way, I can be anal retentive too.....
        "Perhaps there is a future for you at Fox News . . . because obviously YOUR not a Rhodes Scholar either."

        IT'S "YOU'RE" DUMBASS

        • Hate to say this RETARD, but it's people like Maddow & others like her in the gov't & media that have destroyed the prestige of the Ivy Leaguer & Rhodes Scholars. Enough people have figured out that most of the people involved in effing everything up & those who are supposed to report on it went to universities like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, & Princeton. The respect for people who attended these schools has gone down, & it's going to get worse before it gets better.

        • I believe the eighth word of your first sentence is missing a punctuation mark necessary to designate it as a contraction. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go catch the Ed Schultz show over my teletype. He is like a breath of fresh air in the permeating clouds of mixed metaphors.

          PS- There are seven errors in this post . . . find them all and you could win a fantastic prize!

        • No RETARD I'm pretty sure it's "You're a Dumbass" or have completely forgotten how to use a comma Mr. Scholar?
          Although, I agree with your choice of name seeing how you think cables are known as "air" and you are brainwashed by "Mornons Spewing Nothing But Crap" (I know, I know. But should not be capatilized, but thats the abbreviation on TV sooooo...). But then again, when wasn't there a time we weren't all walking in darkness? Am I right?