MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has seen a dramatic decline in her audience following President-elect Trump’s decisive Election Day victory. Since November 6, The Rachel Maddow Show has lost 43% of its total audience compared to its 2024 pre-election average, now drawing only 1.4 million viewers.
The drop-off is even more pronounced among the key demographic of adults aged 25-54, where Maddow’s show has shed 56% of its viewers, averaging just 103,000 in the advertiser-coveted category.
Once a nightly fixture on MSNBC, Maddow cut back to hosting her show only on Monday nights in 2022 to pursue other projects, leaving Alex Wagner to helm the 9 p.m. ET hour the rest of the week. While Maddow’s Monday episodes once averaged 2.4 million viewers earlier this year, her numbers have plummeted since the election. Wagner also recently experienced her lowest-rated week since taking over the time slot.
Maddow’s show thrived during Trump’s first presidency, building a loyal audience with its sharp criticism of Trump and promotion of now-debunked theories tying him to Russian interference in the 2016 election. The show averaged over 3 million viewers at its peak in 2020 but has steadily declined since 2021.
Earlier this year, Maddow criticized MSNBC for airing Trump’s Super Tuesday victory speech, calling the decision “irresponsible,” and warned before the election that Trump’s re-election could lead to authoritarian rule.
