Rachel Maddow Has Her Best Month Since 2013 As MSNBC Grows Faster Than Fox News

Rachel Maddow had her best viewership month in over two years as MSNBC posted bigger ratings growth than Fox News and CNN in January.

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According to a press release from MSNBC on the January 2016 ratings:

MSNBC saw the most growth in cable news for January 2016 during “Morning Joe” and Monday-Friday dayside programming (M-F 9a-5p). MSNBC’s dayside programming (M-F 9a-5p) was up 60% in A25-54 and 46% in total viewers while Fox News was up only 27% and CNN was down by 9%.

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“The Rachel Maddow Show” beat CNN in A25-54 (244,000 vs. CNN’s 232,000) and total viewers (1,062,000 vs. CNN’s 727,000) for the month with double digit growth over last year, 59% in A25-54 and 42% in total viewers. At 9pm, CNN and Fox News were both down in A25-54 over last month. “The Rachel Maddow Show” had the best A25-54 delivery since February 2014 and best total viewers since October 2013.

What makes MSNBC’s growth even more impressive is that they did it without hosting a presidential debate. Both CNN and Fox News benefited greatly from the bonanza of viewers that comes from hosting presidential debates and forums. MSNBC will host their first debate from New Hampshire on Thursday, February 4.

Rachel Maddow was on fire in the month of January. From interviews with Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to a town hall in Flint, Michigan that was one of the best pieces of televised journalism on cable news, the face of MSNBC delivered some of the best programs on cable news.

Maddow’s challenging of the DNC is why the debate is happening in New Hampshire. Her persistent, but respectful pressing of the issue got the Clinton and Sanders campaigns to the table with the result being an agreement that forced the DNC to sanction more debates.

MSNBC has a long way to go before it catches CNN and Fox News, but the network is once again on the rise. MSNBC might not lean forward like it used to, but Rachel Maddow is leading the charge and bringing in viewers by putting on a quality show on a nightly basis.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association