CNN And MSNBC Have Lost Half Of Their Viewers Since Trump Won

CNN and MSNBC hoped their post-election ratings slumps would be short-lived. As the saying goes, no one wants to hear about the home team losing. 

However, it has been five weeks since Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris by sweeping all seven swing states and ratings for the two cable news networks have yet to rebound.

In fact, they are worsening.

Since November 6, the day after the presidential election, primetime viewership for MSNBC has declined 55 percent. MSNBC used to average well over a million viewers during the primetime hours of 8 to 11 pm ET. Since the election, the network has averaged just 603,00 viewers in those time slots.

MSNBC's flagship program, "The Rachel Maddow Show," has lost 56 percent of its audience since Trump's victory, down to an average of 1.4 million. During the Russia Hoax, Maddow averaged close to 3 million viewers per evening.

In other words, another Russia Hoax is likely incoming.

L-R: Chris Hayes, Joy  Reid, Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Ari Melber in Studio 3A at Rockefeller Center on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC via Getty Images)

CNN's post-election viewership is even worse, with an average of just 401,000 viewers, down 46 percent. 

"It was even worse for CNN’s primetime lineup among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54," wrote Fox News reporter Brian Flood. 

"The network managed only 67,000 average demo viewers to finish No. 26 in cable. TV Land, MTV, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central and Adult Swim were among the networks to jump CNN in the critical category."

Yes, more people still watch Adult Swim than CNN – and MSNBC.

Since the election, Fox News has been responsible for 73 percent of all cable news viewership in primetime. In terms of total day viewership, CNN and MSNBC have lost 47 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

What's particularly troubling for MSNBC and CNN is that the news cycle remains busy – be it Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, the fallout from President Biden announcing he would pardon his son, Hunter, or a rebel alliance challenging Bashar al-Assad in Syria. And yet, both channels have recorded 20-year and 30-year lows over the past month.

The networks still expect to gain back some of their lost viewership come 2025. The question is how much? We are skeptical.

With declines between 40 percent and 60 percent, CNN and MSNBC will need to rebound significantly to avoid notable changes and cuts. At the current rate, both channel's parent companies could struggle to justify the notoriously large salaries of their on-air talents.

Rachel Maddow is not worth $25 million a year at her current viewership average, plus working only one day a week (Mondays). How CNN ever justified Anderson Cooper at $20 million annually still boggles the mind. He certainly isn't worth that now, in a primetime block that averaged 367,000 total viewers last week.

Put simply, CNN and MSNBC face greater challenges than the usual post-election blues. As we argued previously, they also face dilemmas in terms of talent and credibility.

The two stations spent much of the 2024 election cycle calling Trump "Hitler" and inflating the influence abortion laws would have on the outcome. At some point, even viewers suffering from the worst case of TDS get tired of hearing lies. Evidently, they are at that point.

By the way, who in their right mind would assign Laura Coates to host a primetime show?