MSNBC’s big lineup shake-up is off to a rocky start. One month in, the network’s new shows are losing viewers fast. Jen Psaki’s new primetime slot has seen the steepest drop.
Psaki, Biden’s former press secretary, took over the 9 p.m. ET slot Tuesday through Friday. It’s the same hour Rachel Maddow once dominated before returning to a once-a-week schedule. Since debuting on May 6, Psaki’s show, The Briefing, has averaged just 971,000 viewers.
That’s a 47% plunge from what Maddow and Alex Wagner pulled in earlier this year. Psaki is also losing younger viewers advertisers care about. Her show averages just 78,000 in the 25–54 age demo—a brutal 52% drop.
The 9 p.m. slot was once a ratings powerhouse. But Psaki hasn’t delivered, and it’s showing. Meanwhile, the rest of the new lineup isn’t faring much better.
Joy Reid’s show was canceled and replaced with The Weeknight, hosted by Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez, and Michael Steele. It’s also losing ground. From May 5 to May 28, it averaged 776,000 viewers—a 12% drop.
That show also slid in the key demo, down 20% to 72,000 viewers. Another new addition, The Weekend: Primetime, saw an 11% drop in total viewers and a 6% dip in the demo. MSNBC’s overhaul hasn’t moved the needle.
In fact, May was MSNBC’s second-worst ever for the demo in both primetime and total day. It averaged just 49,000 demo viewers, falling behind CNN’s 59,000. In primetime, CNN led again with 76,000 demo viewers compared to MSNBC’s 73,000.
Only one new show is bucking the trend. The Weekend with Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany is up 24% in total viewers. It’s also up 29% in the demo. But that’s the lone bright spot in a shaky lineup.