Staff Reports
MSNBC’s flagship morning show, Morning Joe, is experiencing a ratings catastrophe that could only be rivaled by the Titanic’s fateful maiden voyage. As the former cheerleaders of anti-Trump sentiment, co-anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are now facing a viewer revolt after an unexpected meet-up with the former president at Mar-a-Lago. In classic leftist irony, as they attempted to “restart communications,” their audience decided to “restart” their remote controls instead, tuning out in droves.
The numbers reveal a staggering 20% plunge in overall audience from Monday to Wednesday, bringing the average down to a paltry 618,000 viewers. For the holy grail of TV ratings—the coveted 25-to-54 demographic—the show plummeted by 45%, landing at a dismal average of just 49,000 viewers. The numbers only get worse, with Wednesday’s disastrous ratings highlighting the program’s complete inability to resonate with its audience; 647,000 viewers overall and just 51,000 younger viewers represent a 15% and 41% nosedive from Monday’s figures.
“Ratings for Morning Joe have dropped 15% overall and a whopping 41% in the 25-54 year old demographics cable news crave since the meeting with Trump was revealed.”
Maybe meeting with a rapist, felon didn’t turn out the way you’d hoped @Morning_Joe ? 🖕🏼 pic.twitter.com/ujJxQZzDav
— 😼 (@dutchessprim) November 22, 2024
The collective outrage from the left was palpable when Scarborough and Brzezinski confirmed they had ventured into the lion’s den. Longtime critics of Trump, the anchors now look like they’ve committed a grave faux pas, and critics have been quick to label the meeting a “cowardly” maneuver aimed at regaining favor with the former president. For a network that thrived on harsh critiques of Trump, turning their backs on their loyalist audience in such a way appears to have backfired spectacularly.
With each passing day, ratings continued to plummet. On Tuesday, Morning Joe eked out 680,000 viewers in total and only 86,000 in the critical 25-to-54 age group—marking a further 12% decline from Monday’s embarrassing figures. The fallout has led to a public questioning within MSNBC itself, as staffers are left wondering what the network stands for if it’s willing to cozy up to the very man they’ve built a career denouncing.
As ratings spiral, MSNBC finds itself in a deeper financial quagmire. Parent company Comcast is reportedly planning a major shakeup, spinning off its cable channels, including the beleaguered MSNBC. The network’s future now hangs in the balance, as cable news viewership continues its downward slide. To top it off, executives are scrambling to change the programming lineup, with insiders hinting at a potential role for Rachel Maddow—former star whose own inflated salary has recently been slashed from $30 million to $25 million over five years. Described by one executive as “ratings Viagra,” Maddow is now the network’s last hope for a revival.
The fallout from this ratings catastrophe leads to bigger questions about MSNBC as a whole. Once positioned as a liberal fortress against Trump’s presidency, the network now grapples with accusations of pandering to him, aiming to woo back an audience that has fled in a huff. Whether Scarborough and Brzezinski can reclaim their credibility—or their viewers—remains up in the air as the numbers tell a bleak tale. The reality is, it seems that those who wanted a daily dose of anti-Trump vitriol are now seeking refuge elsewhere, leaving Morning Joe floundering.
