MSNBC Makes History in February, Wins All of Cable for the 1st Time Ever
March 02, 2021
NEW YORK (March 2, 2021) – MSNBC finished February as the #1 network in all of cable television, according to Nielsen. The historic victory comes during a month of around-the-clock breaking news, including the 2nd impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 1st full month of the Biden administration and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
MSNBC averaged 1.4M total viewers during total day (M-Su 6am-6am) (vs. CNN’s 1.2M and FOX News’ 1.3M), propelling the network to the #1 spot in cable for the 1st time ever (ahead of #2 FOX News, #3 CNN and #4 HGTV). Among total viewers, MSNBC increased viewership by +36% during total day while FOX News shed viewers by double digits (-32%) compared to Feb. 2020. A25-54 viewership was up +29% for MSNBC during total day vs. Feb. 20 while FOX News lost -38% of viewers.
MSNBC dayside (9am-4pm) programming was on top of every breaking news story, leading the network to #1 in all of cable (ahead of #2 CNN, #3 FOX News and #4 HGTV). Viewers turned to MSNBC for live, breaking news with 1.53M total viewers tuning in during the time period (vs. CNN’s 1.52M and FOX News’ 1.4M). Dayside increased viewership by +51% over Feb. 2020 while FOX News shed viewers by double digits (-35%). In A25-54, dayside ranked #2 among all cable networks with 231K viewers topping FOX News (209K) for the 2nd month in a row. Compared to Feb. 2020, dayside A25-54 viewership was up by +68% while FOX News was down by -39%.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” at 9pm finished February as the highest-rated regularly scheduled program across all of cable television for the 2nd straight month. “Maddow” averaged 3.7M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 3M and CNN’s 2.2M) — a double digit gain in total viewers (+32%) over Feb. 2020. FOX News’ “Hannity” lost -31% of total viewers compared to Feb. 2020. “Maddow” also dominated the demo finishing #1 in A25-54 with 593K viewers (vs. CNN’s 510K and FOX News’ 440K). In A25-54, “Maddow” increased viewership by +36% compared to Feb. 2020 while FOX News shed -39% of viewers.
“Morning Joe” (6am-9am) continues to dominate mornings, ranking #1 across total viewers and A25-54 across all of cable for the 3rd consecutive month. In total viewers, “Morning Joe” finished 1st across all of cable for the 3rd month in a row with 1.4M total viewers (vs. CNN’s 717K and FOX News’ 1.1M). FOX News saw double-digit losses compared to Feb. 2020 (-40%) while “Morning Joe” gained +23% total viewers. In total viewers, “Morning Joe” has increased its lead over CNN by more than 600K viewers compared to Feb. 2020. In A25-54, “Morning Joe” was again #1 for the 3rd month in a row averaging 212K viewers (vs. FOX News’ 189K and CNN’s 173K and). Compared to Feb. 2020, “Morning Joe” increased viewership in A25-54 by +18% while FOX News saw a viewership drop (-46%).
Viewers turned to MSNBC’s primetime programming for the latest news, analysis and interviews with leading experts, drawing an average 2.9M total viewers (vs. CNN’s 2M). MSNBC weekday prime increased total viewership by +23% over Feb. 20 while FOX News lost - 32%. In A25-54, MSNBC weekday prime topped FOX News for the 2nd month in a row with 451K viewers (vs. FOX News’ 446K). A25-54 viewership was up +6% vs. Feb. 20 during weekday prime while FOX News was down -40%.
“The 11th Hour with Brian Williams” at 11pm continues its reign over FOX News and CNN finishing 1st in the hour for the 5th straight month. “The 11th Hour” delivered 2.1M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 1.2M and CNN’s 1.1M), increasing viewership by +18% over Feb. 2020 while FOX News was down by more than twice that (-42%). In A25-54, “The 11th Hour” posted 320K viewers, topping FOX News (228K) for the 3rd straight month.
“Deadline: White House” from 4pm-6pm finished #1 for the 3rd month in a row, dominating FOX News and CNN for the full two hours of programming with 2.3M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 2.1M and CNN’s 1.6M). Compared to Feb. 2020, “Deadline” grew by +58% while FOX News was down by -27% in the time period. In A25-54, “Deadline” increased viewership by +75% over Feb. 2020 (vs. FOX News -38%).
“The Beat with Ari Melber” at 6pm was #1 in the hour for the 3rd consecutive month delivering 2.1M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 2M and CNN’s 1.7M) and increasing viewership +38% while FOX News lost -31% over Feb. 2020. In A25-54, “The Beat” topped FOX News for the 3rd consecutive month with 307K viewers (vs. FOX News’ 294K). Compared to Feb. 2020, “The Beat” grew by +39% in A25-54 viewers while FOX News was down -44%.
“The ReidOut” finished #1 at 7pm averaging 2.1M total viewers (vs. CNN’s 1.8M and FOX News’ 1.8M) and topped FOX News in A25-54 for the 3rd straight month with an average 346K (vs. FOX News’ 270K). In total viewers, “The ReidOut” increased viewership by +48% compared to Feb. 2020.
“The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10pm continues its winning streak finishing #1 for the 3rd month in a row averaging 2.6M total viewers. “The Last Word” saw a +26% increase in total viewers compared to Feb. 2020 while FOX News was down -40%. In A25-54, “The Last Word” delivered 348K viewers, besting FOX News for the 2nd month in a row. Compared to Feb. 2020 “The Last Word” was up +23% in A25-54 viewers while FOX News was down -42%.
MSNBC was the #1 network across all of cable during the entirety of the 2nd impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump (2/9/21-2/13/21). Viewers turned to MSNBC in large numbers for special coverage and analysis with 2.4M total viewers tuning in for the entirety of the trial (6am-2am Tues-Sat), easily topping FOX News (1.6M) and CNN (2M) in total viewers. During the height of the trial from 12pm-8pm, MSNBC averaged 3.1M total viewers (2/9/21-2/13/21) – finishing ahead of all cable networks (#2 CNN 2.9M and #3 FOX News 1.8M). Across all broadcast networks, MSNBC finished #1 all five days last week during daytime coverage (12pm-5pm), besting CNN, FOX News, CBS and ABC.
In February, viewers watched MSNBC for an average 448 minutes per week.
Year to-date, MSNBC is #1 across all of cable in prime (M-Su 8pm-11pm), “Morning Joe” (M-F 6am-9am), extended prime (M-F 4pm-8pm) and full day (M-F 6am-2am) among total viewers.
MSNBC weekend total day (Sa-Su 6am-6am) increased viewership by double digits over Feb. 2020. In total viewers, weekend total day was up by +45% while FOX News was down -18%. In A25-54, weekend total day was up by +31% while FOX News was down -20%. On Saturdays, “PoliticsNation” at 5pm topped FOX News for the 2nd straight month in total viewers. On Sundays, “PoliticsNation” at 5pm topped FOX News for the 4th straight month in total viewers.
MSNBC Digital saw on net total minutes watched grow by double digits in February (+34%). MSNBC Live TVE saw its highest average time spent, growing +54% year-over-year, and beating even November 2020. MSNBC live TVE consumption more than doubled (+132%) year-over-year.
NOTE: February ratings are based on Nielsen most current data day for 2/1-2/28 2021. Individual show data for the month represents regular programming only, excluding specials and breaking news.
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For more information contact:
Lorie Acio
MSNBC
Courtney Boland
MSNBC
