DCG posted: " NY Times: Rachel Maddow, the biggest star on the MSNBC
cable network, just posted her lowest quarterly ratings results ever.
“Morning Joe,” MSNBC’s signature morning program, scored its second-lowest
quarterly ratings, reaching an average of just 87,0" Respond to this
post by replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/> Too bad, so sad:
#LapDogMedia MSNBC spiraling down in ratings
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2014/10/14/too-bad-so-sad-lapdogmedia-msnbc-spiraling-down-in-ratings/>
by
DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>
[image: msnbc]
<https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/msnbc.jpg>
NY Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/business/media/leaning-forward-msnbc-loses-ground-to-rival-cnn-.html?_r=0>:
Rachel Maddow, the biggest star on the MSNBC cable network, *just posted
her lowest quarterly ratings results ever*. “Morning Joe,” MSNBC’s
signature morning program, *scored its second-lowest quarterly ratings,
reaching an average of just 87,000 viewers in the key news demographic
group*.
And *“Ronan Farrow Daily,”* the network’s heavily promoted new afternoon
show, which stars a 26-year-old Rhodes Scholar with a high-profile
Hollywood lineage, *has been largely a dud*.
Though it has mostly happened quietly, which may be a comment on the cable
network’s larger status in the media landscape, *MSNBC has seen its ratings
hit one of the deepest skids in its history, with the recently completed
third quarter of 2014 generating some record lows.*
[image: Phil Griffin and his "star"...]
<https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/griffin.jpg>
Phil Griffin and his "star"...
Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, *acknowledged that his network had
been struggling, but put it in the context of the overall drop in cable
news*. “This has been a tough year all around,” he said. “*All three cable
news channels are drawing a smaller combined audience than they were five
years ago.*” *(He must not be including Fox News in his statement: "In
addition to being the most-watched basic cable network
<http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/for-first-time-ever-fox-news-is-most-watched-cable-network-in-primetime-for-full-quarter_b240637>
for the 2014 quarter in primetime, Fox News Channel saw across-the-board
growth vs. Q3 2013
<http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/q3-2014-ratings-fox-news-is-most-watched-cable-network_b240618>.
FNC was up +2% in viewers and up +4% in the A25-54 demo for total day
viewing and up +10% in viewers and up +11% in the demo in primetime.) *He
also emphasized that despite the plunge that caused it to trail CNN in the
last quarter, the network remained ahead of CNN for the full year.
In the past, MSNBC’s ratings have typically fallen during times of
intensely followed major news events. The current period is awash in them,
with stories like ISIS and Ebola commanding a high degree of international
reporting. This plays well to CNN’s strengths.
*MSNBC consciously established its brand as politics-centric, approaching
stories from a left-of-center viewpoint*, in deliberate contrast to the
right-of-center approach of Fox News, which continues to dominate the news
channel ratings. At the same time, MSNBC moved away from a close
relationship with NBC News that it had during the early years of the
network. Today, fewer NBC News correspondents appear on MSNBC.
*Mr. Griffin said that a general apathy about American politics has also
hurt the network.* “You can look at the dysfunction in Washington, the
wariness about politics, the low approval ratings,” he said. “That’s had an
impact. But we’ve got to adjust; we’ve got to evolve.”
*MSNBC’s recent results have not been encouraging.* During the third
quarter, *Ms. Maddow reached an average of 183,000 viewers* in the audience
component that most matters to MSNBC’s advertisers, viewers between the
ages of 25 and 54, *her lowest total since she started her show in 2008*.
More worrying is the slide for “Morning Joe,” which has, for much of its
time on the air, enjoyed status as one of the most talked-about shows in
media industry circles. Now the heat around the show seems to have
dissipated. For four straight months, and six of the last eight, “Morning
Joe” has trailed CNN’s new morning entry, “New Day.”
One longtime news executive who has worked for both network and cable news
organizations said the problem with “Morning Joe” was partly a broader
issue with MSNBC. “ ‘Morning Joe’ has been hurt because no one is tuning in
to watch the channel now; they go right by,” he said. “The show took its
eye off the ball, but you can’t discount the fact that nobody is watching
the channel.”
The executive, who asked not to be identified because of potential future
business with MSNBC, said Ms. Maddow remains a draw, but her format has
grown tired. *“In terms of Rachel, everybody knows every night what she’s
going to say,”* he said. “The network just doesn’t surprise you.”
*MSNBC’s other numbers are no prettier.* Over all in prime time, MSNBC,
which for years had squashed CNN head-to-head on weeknights, has recently
dropped consistently behind that network. The falloff over the last five
years is stark. In the first quarter of 2009, MSNBC averaged 392,000
viewers in the 25-54 demographic for its weeknight lineup. In the third
quarter of this year, the number was down to 125,000.
The network’s newest prime-time host, Chris Hayes, also hit a low in the
third quarter, *averaging 129,000 viewers* in the 25-54 category, his worst
since his show began in the second quarter of 2013.
The median age of the MSNBC viewer has also ticked upward. Five years ago
it was 58; now it is 61. CNN has edged down a bit, from 62 five years ago
to 59. Fox News has aged from 65 to 68.
On Monday and Friday of last week, *only one MSNBC show all day, “Hardball”
with Chris Matthews, even topped 100,000 viewers* in that 25-54 group. And
the daytime numbers are much worse. *Mr. Farrow’s show averaged just 45,000
viewers* in the preferred group, down 51 percent from other programming in
the same slot last year.
Some of the losses at MSNBC reflect a drift away from cable news channels
in general, as Mr. Griffin noted. Over the last five years, Fox News and
CNN are both down 13 percent in total audience in prime time; MSNBC is down
21 percent. *Fox has little to worry about because its numbers so dwarf the
others.* CNN has responded with a new strategy that mixes its traditional
hard news approach with a regular lineup of pre-produced original series.
It had a major success last week with the latest of them, “Somebody’s Gotta
Do It,” with Mike Rowe.
As for MSNBC, Mr. Griffin remained optimistic despite the challenges. He
defended the network’s approach, but also hinted that it had to broaden its
programming beyond politics. “We have a good brand, a strong brand,” he
said. “But we’ve got to get outside Washington and open up our aperture a
little.”
DCG
*DCG <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/dcgere/>* | October 14, 2014
at 3:30 am | Tags: Chris Matthews
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=chris-matthews>, MSNBC
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=msnbc>, Rachel Maddow
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=rachel-maddow>, Ronan Farrow
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=ronan-farrow> | Categories: Hollywood
liberals <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=437662>,
Liberals/Democrats/Left <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=115894710> |
URL: http://wp.me/pKuKY-sc8
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