CNN, MSNBC Loss Of Viewers Termed 'Staggering'

The exodus of viewers from CNN and MSNBC since the election has been nothing short of staggering, writes Dylan Byers at Puck.

Since November 5, CNN and MSNBC have seen their total audiences decline by 27 percent and 38 percent, respectively, when compared to their 2024 average from the previous 10 months. According to Byers tt’s even worse in primetime, where CNN is down 35 percent and MSNBC is down 47 percent. But the numbers themselves are perhaps even more dispiriting: Since Trump’s victory, CNN has averaged just 368,000 total viewers and 70,000 in the advertiser-relevant 25-to-54 demo, while MSNBC has averaged 527,000 total viewers and just 53,000 in the demo.

The controversy surrounding Scarborough and Brzezinski’s trip to the president-elect’s Florida headquarters started almost immediately after they disclosed the Mar-a-Lago meeting on Monday’s show. According to Nielsen Media Research data, 770,000 total viewers watched the Nov. 18 newscast. On Tuesday, though, only 680,000 total viewers tuned in for a -12% drop.

Wednesday’s show averaged 647,000, a slip of -5% compared to the previous day and -17% since Monday. A source at MSNBC notes to TVNewser that Morning Joe was up +4% in total viewers from Monday to Wednesday compared to the previous week, and that the newscast grew its total viewer audience in every hour from 6-10am across those two days.

According to TV Newser, Wednesday was also the day that Comcast announced the launch of SpinCo, a new publicly traded spinoff company built to house the corporate giant’s struggling cable networks—including MSNBC and CNBC. That would cleave both outlets from the main NBCUniversal News Group and require them to potentially build their own newsgathering operations from the ground-up.

Meanwhile, Fox News has seen its audience surge 41 percent overall and 48 percent in the demo, with an average of 2 million viewers and 267,000 in the demo. Indeed, across every category—total, 25-to-54, and 18-to-49—Fox News now accounts for roughly 70 percent of the total cable news audience since Election Day.