OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has seen a significant drop in her viewership following President-elect Donald Trump’s Election Day victory, according to recent data.
Since Trump’s landslide win over Vice President Kamala Harris, The Rachel Maddow Show has lost 43% of its audience in 2024, now averaging just 1.4 million viewers, One America News reported.
Analysts identified the decline by comparing the show’s average viewership from January 1, 2024, through Election Day to its performance since November 6.
In 2022, Rachel Maddow reduced The Rachel Maddow Show to a once-a-week format to “pursue other projects,” despite her substantial salary. She recently signed a new contract to remain a prominent figure at MSNBC.
The network’s top star has experienced an even sharper decline among adults aged 25-54. Since the election, she has lost 56% of her audience in this key demographic, now averaging just 103,000 viewers—a critical blow given the importance of this age group to advertisers, OAN reported.
At the height of its popularity, The Rachel Maddow Show aired every weeknight and competed as one of the most-watched cable news programs. However, for the past two years, Maddow has only hosted the show on Monday nights, passing the 9 p.m. ET time slot to Alex Wagner for the remainder of the week. Notably, Wagner had her lowest-rated week ever just last week.
Rachel Maddow now focuses on covering MSNBC’s major events, such as Election Night, while dedicating her off time to hosting podcasts and working on various side projects.
Under her previous contract, Maddow reportedly earned $30 million annually. However, The Ankler reported that her new five-year deal is worth $25 million per year, though MSNBC insiders have disputed those figures.
Fox News correspondent Joe Concha, who has long covered the media industry, remarked that it’s unsurprising Maddow is losing viewers after the election results, given her strong support for Kamala Harris.
“What was surprising is that MSNBC still doled out $25 million to her to work one night a week. And the return on investment is that she finishes a distant second to Sean Hannity at 9 P.M. Is that money well spent? Rhetorical question,” Concha told Fox News Digital.
Maddow has built her reputation on relentless criticism of Donald Trump, including promoting since-debunked theories attempting to link him to Russia.
The Rachel Maddow Show thrived during the left’s intense focus on Trump, drawing an average of 2.5 million viewers in 2017, 2.9 million in 2018, 2.8 million in 2019, and a peak of 3.2 million in 2020. However, in 2021, Maddow scaled back her workload following an extended hiatus.
Before the 2024 election, Maddow openly claimed that Trump “would be a dictator” if re-elected.
The far-left network has seen a sharp drop in audience numbers since his ictory, with Maddow’s show suffering a notable decline—falling behind even a rerun of Ancient Aliens in a recent ratings comparison.
The ratings slump extends to CNN, which has seen a 33% decline in total-day viewers, averaging 357,000, with 65,000 in the key demo, according to The Independent.
Primetime has been especially challenging for both networks. MSNBC’s primetime audience has dropped 52%, averaging 644,000 viewers, with only 63,000 in the 25-54 demographic. CNN’s primetime ratings have fallen 39%, drawing 453,000 viewers.
Meanwhile, Fox News has experienced a surge in post-election viewership, increasing 24% year-to-date and averaging 3 million primetime viewers, cementing its dominance in the cable news landscape, the report said.
“This is a difficult time and they needed to keep her,” an executive explained to The Ankler regarding Maddow. “No one else can do what she does. You can’t build a brand like it overnight.” Another executive referred to Maddow as “ratings Viagra.”
Meanwhile, a top voice in the progressive politisphere has said that he is “optimistic” about Trump’s coming presidency.
Cenk Uygur, founder and host of “The Young Turks” podcast, has changed his opinion of MAGA (Make America Great Again) and said that he believes it is the political establishment, not Trump supporters, who are the ”enemy.”
