‘Morning Joe’ Hit by Ratings Shocker, Plus MSNBC’s Real Viewership Revealed
Newly-released viewing figures for the first quarter of 2025 provide some shocking news for MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
The Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski-hosted show finds itself trailing behind its CNN rival in a key ratings battleground for the first time in years.
According to Nielsen ratings, CNN News Central surpassed Morning Joe in the coveted 25-54 demographic for the first time since 2022. Morning Joe, which airs from 6-10AM ET Monday through Friday, still out-performs CNN in the 25-54 demo during its first hour, but things aren’t so good when News Central goes on air at 7AM ET. The CNN show, which is hosted by Sara Sidner, Kate Bolduan and John Berman, delivered an average of 73,000 in the key demo for Quarter 1 2025, while Morning Joe brought in an average of 64,000.
However, Morning Joe is still more popular with older viewers, which means that the show as a whole beats CNN during the 6-10AM ET slot when all age groups are factored in.
Overall, MSNBC for Q1 in primetime averaged 1.024 million total viewers and 96,000 in the demo, while its total day number saw 593,000 total viewers and 57,000 in the demo.
In comparison to Q1 2024, MSNBC was down -18% in total viewers and -21% in the demo in primetime and down -27% and -30% during total day.
CNN, meanwhile, averaged 558,000 total viewers and 121,000 in the demo during primetime, with 428,000 total viewers and 79,000 in the demo in total day.
Compared to Q1 2024, the dropoff for CNN wasn’t quite as extreme as MSNBC. The network was down -6% in total viewers and -1% in the demo during primetime and -8% and -7% in those same categories for total day.
Kate Bolduan, Sara Sidner, and John Berman, CNN News Central hosts; CNN YouTube
As TV Insider previously reported, Fox News remained at the top of the cable news chart with an average of 3.012 million total primetime viewers and 380,000 in the key demo for Q1 2025. In total day, the network delivered 1.919 million total viewers and 247,000 in the demo.
These numbers put Fox News up +46% in total viewers and +63% in the demo during primetime compared to Q1 2024. The network’s total day numbers were also up +48% (in total viewers) and +58% (in the demo) in comparison to last year.
Despite the hit to Morning Joe, MSNBC has seen an uptick in viewers since January when compared to Q4 2024. Between January 20 and March 28, the network averaged 1.45 million total viewers in primetime, up +96% compared to the post-election period.
MSNBC’s total day numbers are also up +43% compared to the last quarter of 2024, with a total viewer average of 830,000.
The big winner for MSNBC is The Rachel Maddow Show, which is the network’s most-watched program in total viewers and demo. In Q1 2025, Maddow’s show averaged 1.918 million viewers and 177,000 in the demo. It was also the only non-Fox News show to finish in Q1 2025’s Top 15 Shows Among Total Viewers and Among Adults 25-54.
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