More than a month after the November election, MSNBC’s primetime audience, which was halved after Donald Trump’s victory, has not yet returned. The network’s total primetime audience has dropped a staggering 55% from November 4 to December 15, according to the latest Nielsen figures.
The reasons for the drop are being debated on social media, within the cable news networks, and in the media ecosystem. Some viewers are feeling disappointed or angry with the network, while others may be taking a break from the news and will return after Trump takes office.
According to Claire Potter, professor of history at The New School for Social Research, the election outcome may feel like a “bait and switch” to some MSNBC viewers. “It’s a sort of odd conjunction of what cable news channels have offered, which is, ‘You can trust us — come be part of our community. You’re safe here. We will not only keep you informed, but we will keep you organized and energized to defeat your opponents,'” she said. “That’s what’s coming in, and … the audience is buying it, hook, line and sinker. And then when it doesn’t work out, they get angry.”
Paired with the precipitous drop-off in linear viewership, with streaming growing to a record 41.6% for November’s TV viewing, Potter is unsure whether audiences will “return in the kind of numbers that the [linear] corporations want,” pointing to MSNBC being one of several cable assets that NBCUniversal will spin-off into a standalone, publicly traded company.
Oliver Darcy, founder of the media newsletter Status, wondered if some viewers have permanently turned to other news sources, including podcasts, YouTube channels, or newsletters. “Something broader’s going on,” he said. “Some people are depressed. Others feel betrayed. Some are tuning out for the holidays. It can be a cocktail of things happening here.”
With broken trust and an avalanche of alternative news sources available, MSNBC’s recent decline could spell more trouble ahead for the cable news establishment. However, it’s possible that viewership will pick up in the new year after Trump’s inauguration, as has happened after Trump’s first win in 2016, according to an insider.
MSNBC brought in an average primetime viewership of 1.34 million in 2024 leading up to the election, but the total primetime audience has fallen 55% to 601,000 viewers, according to Nielsen figures through Dec. 15.
