MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Sees Ratings Drop to Yearly Low

The numbers represented the lowest viewers and the lowest in the key age demographic this year.

Published: 5/22/2019, 10:07:48 AM EDT

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Sees Ratings Drop to Yearly Low — Television host Rachel Maddow at the State Department in Washington on March 14, 2012. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, the network's highest-rated host, saw her ratings drop to a yearly low in the third week of May.

For the week starting May 13, Maddow's show averaged just 2.3 million viewers, with an average audience of 337,000 in the coveted 25-54 age demographic. The numbers represented the lowest amount of viewers and the lowest in the demographic this year, according to TV Newser, which published Nielsen ratings.

Ever since the submission of special counsel Robert Mueller's report in March, Maddow has been shedding viewers. Mueller found he couldn't establish conspiracy or cooperation between Russia and President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign while Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Mueller was unable to establish obstruction either.

MSNBC is openly anti-Trump and Maddow feasted upon conspiracy theories surrounding supposed collusion between Trump and Russia over the last two years, regularly telling viewers that major indictments were just around the corner. On the night Mueller submitted his findings, Maddow appeared to be on the verge of tears on air.

Then-FBI Director Robert Mueller in Washington on June 25, 2008. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) — Then-FBI Director Robert Mueller in Washington on June 25, 2008. Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, DC on May 9, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) — President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, DC on May 9, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Maddow's ratings dropped that week and have now hit the yearly low.

CNN, which regularly gets third in ratings behind MSNBC and Fox News, has also struggled since the submission of Mueller's report. The network is also openly anti-Trump and regularly propagates conspiracy theories about him, including speculation without evidence about his mental health in addition to the Russia-Trump theories.

Compared to the comparable week last year, MSNBC was down 13 percent while CNN was down 26 percent, according to TV Newser. In the coveted age demographic, MSNBC and CNN were both down by 42 percent.

Fox, which is openly conservative but has been drifting toward the left, saw a boost from a town hall with Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, which drew is an average of 1.1 million viewers and was 22 percent up on the channel's year-to-date average for the Sunday 7 p.m. timeslot.

Basic cable ranker: Week of... by on Scribd

Fox was down slightly from last year but "continued to dominate its competition," TV Newser noted. "Throughout the week, presentations of Hannity, Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Ingraham Angle, and The Five claimed 11 of the top 30 cable telecasts overall in total viewers."

Sean Hannity, Maddow's main rival, averaged 3.1 million viewers with just under 500,000 in the key age demographic.

For total viewers in the week, Fox came first, ESPN was second, MSNBC was third, TNT was fourth, Home and Garden TV was fifth, Investigation Discovery was sixth, Nickelodeon was seventh, USA Network was eighth, CNN was ninth, and the History Channel was 10th.

In terms of prime-time—from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.—ESPN got first, boosted by the NBA playoffs, Fox got second, TNT got third, MSNBC got fourth, and Home and Garden TV got fifth. CNN was 16th.

Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors high fives Draymond Green #23 during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers in game four of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Moda Center on May 20, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) — Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors high fives Draymond Green #23 during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers in game four of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Moda Center on May 20, 2019 in Portland, Oregon. Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images

NBA Dominates Monday

The NBA playoffs dominated the May 20 ratings, grabbing all three of the top performances of the night.

According to ratings published by Zap2It, the Golden State Warriors-Portland Trail Blazers game 4 was the top program of the night, scoring a 2.8 rating in the coveted 18-49 age demographic and 7.7 million total viewers.

Two supplementary shows, "NBA Courtside" and "SportsCenter Late" were second and third with 4 million and 3.2 million total viewers, respectively.

WWE's "Monday Night Raw" took fourth, fifth, and sixth, bringing in over 2.2 million viewers in each of its three hours with a 18-49 rating close to 1.0.