MSNBC remained in third place behind Fox News and CNN, but saw the largest growth of any cable news network in prime among total viewers, +8 percent versus November 2014. The network’s return to news in daytime saw a bump among total viewers of +14 percent, but that increase was second to CNN’s, which jumped +26 percent in a very busy month for breaking news.
In prime time, all the cable news networks were down in the demo compared to November 2014, with MSNBC down -13 percent, compared to CNN (down -12 percent) and Fox News (down -14 percent).
The ratings for November, 2015 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):
- Prime time (Mon-Sun): 654,000 total viewers / 151,000 A25-54
- Total Day (Mon-Sun): 399,000 total viewers / 95,000 A25-54
Among key programs, MSNBC saw double-digit growth for Morning Joe (+10 percent), MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts (+27 percent). In late night, re-airs of The Rachel Maddow Show and Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell showed significant gains, up +70 percent (at 12 a.m. ET) and +61 percent (at 1 a.m. ET).
The recent dayside addition of MTP Daily with Chuck Todd showed modest growth, up +10 percent over MSNBC Live.
MSNBC’s full release:
MSNBC RATINGS TREND CONTINUES: DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH IN DEMO AND TOTAL VIEWERS ACROSS MORNING, DAYSIDE NEWS BLOCK AND PRIMETIME
“Morning Joe” Tops CNN for 9th Consecutive Month, “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “Hardball” Top CNN for 30th Month Straight
NEW YORK – December 2, 2015 – For November 2015, MSNBC continued to see significant double digit growth over last year in both the key 25-54 demo and total viewers especially in the dayside news block which was up 34% in total viewers over last year and 6% in 25-54 demo. “Morning Joe” also continued to top CNN in total viewers (524,000 vs. 440,000) for the ninth consecutive month and “Hardball” (871,000 vs. 808,000) and “The Rachel Maddow Show” (940,000 vs. 691,000) also each topped CNN for over two years straight. “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” topped CNN in total viewers (692,000 vs. 679,000) and “All In with Chris Hayes” was up 18% over last year in total viewers and had the second highest demo rating on the network for the month. MSNBC was second overall in M-F Prime 8-11p, the best since November 2014.
In total viewers, MSNBC’s Primetime saw significant growth across the board including re-airs and “Morning Joe” which increased 45% over last year. The complete “MSNBC Live” block and “Andrea Mitchell Reports” were also up over last year and “MTP Daily” was up 10% from September 2015 “MSNBC Live”
In the key 25-54 demo, MSNBC saw double-digit growth for “Morning Joe” up 10% and “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” up 27%. “The Rachel Maddow Show” was up a staggering 70% at 12a and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” was up 61% at 1a. Since premiering in September, “MTP Daily” is up 10% over “MSNBC Live.”
On the weekends, “PoliticsNation with Reverend Al Sharpton” was up 17% in the 25-54 demo over last month’s premiere. On Saturdays, “Weekends with Alex Witt” was up 13% in total viewers and “Melissa Harris-Perry” was up 9%. On Sunday, “Up” was up 28% in the 25-54 demo and 10% in total viewers.
(Source: NSI, November 2015)