MSNBC embarassment: Network pulls in avg of 55,000 viewers

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Times are not good over at MSNBC. The network is experiencing record low ratings. It's getting crushed by CNBC, which is literally just re-airing Shark Tank episodes. There are YouTube channels about nothing that get 50 times as many viewers as MSNBC does right now.

Farrow and Reid got the axe to focus more on news. Farrow was unwatchable and is not fit for being on camera. How no one running the network saw that, I'll never know. Unfortunately, they're keeping him around to do specials and other stuff.

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http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/02/msnbc-cancels-ronan-farrow-reid-report-202819.html?ml=po

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

For comparison, total day viewership in the 25-54 demo for the week of Feb 18, 2015:

Fox News: 274,000
CNN: 140,000
MSNBC: 67,000

In the age 35-64 demo:

Fox News: 502,000
CNN: 204,000
MSNBC: 135,000

Rachel Maddow is MSNBC's best property, pulling in 129,000 younger viewers and 342,000 older ones. The episode of Shark Tank that airs opposite her gets 365,000 + 407,000.

Bill O'Reilly is still Fox News's leader, with 568,000 younger + 1,006,000 older. (The Kelly File does real good too, apparently.) CNN's strongest is Anderson Cooper (250,000 + 328,000).

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Just to note that despite my use of the plus sign there, those numbers are not additive.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Who's Ronan Farrow?

Ronan Farrow is a "Twitter celeb." MSNBC assumed that giving him a show would bring Millennial viewers to the network.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Does anybody really watch cable news? I see it in banks and waiting and such places, but the idea of sitting down at home and (after paying a lot of $ for countless cable channels) choosing to watch FOX, CNN, or MSNBC makes about as much sense as one of Bushie's diets. There's a lot of good tv out there, but literally none of it is on any of those networks.

I used to have it on in the background when I was working, or making dinner. Sometimes you just want to see news or politics. And when there's a big story (like marriage legalization), it's sometimes fun to see how your favorite blowhard reacts.

Now I watch Bob's Burgers on Hulu instead.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Update: MSNBC is canning Al Sharpton's show, too, citing low ratings.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

They should get rid of Chris Matthews to. His show is all Meet the Press-esque based news, and the show is all him talking over people.

Matthews, Hayes and Maddow all pull similar ratings; MSNBC has called its prime-time lineup "solid."

Ed's numbers aren't much better than Sharpton's, maybe +10,000 viewers on any given night.