TV Ratings: Morning Joe Tanks As Viewers Are Pissed

Based on Monday morning’s hour-by-hour ratings, Morning Joe viewers were not happy with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s announcement that they met privately with President-Elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last Friday.

Trump’s victory is so complete, Morning Joe has fully surrendered. Both hosts went to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. Astonishing.
pic.twitter.com/iDcbuP7Gep

— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) November 18, 2024

Mediaite reports that nearly immediately, there has been a bipartisan backlash. The MSNBC morning show hosts’ stated goal of “time for a new approach” was openly derided as evidence that Scarborough and Brzezinski did not believe in the conviction of their previous criticisms. The criticism came from provocateurs and thought leaders from both ends of the political spectrum.

Podcastee Megyn Kelly aaks "How long have MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski been telling us that Donald Trump is an existential threat... Well, they have done a 180 on the matter – and that 180 comes as their ratings circle the bowl."

It turns out that MSNBC viewers were also not impressed, or at least they tuned out over the next four hours Monday. Nielsen ratings obtained by Mediaite show a significant drop in viewers in the 7 AM hour. Roughly 38% of the lucrative 25-54 demo also turned off MSNBC or switched to another network.

Morning Joe airs for four hours each morning, and given different times that people awake and tune in to cable news, the show regularly builds viewers hour over hour. The fact that people tuned out from the MSNBC morning show, and at such a significant clip, does not spell good fortune for the once influential opinion show that seems to have angered the anti-Trump resistance set and has long given up on the pro-Trump viewers going back roughly eight years.

MSNBC isn't the only outlet trying to repair relations with Trump amid broader mainstream media trust issues coming out of the election.

• Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong told Fox News Thursday he's making changes to ensure "the views of all" in his paper.
• The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos congratulated Trump on his win, shortly after his paper reportedly lost 250,000 subscriptions due to his decision to yank the paper's endorsement of Harris.
• Social media influencers are leaning into the MAGA madness in an effort to curry favor with brands, per The Cut.