Jen Psaki Beats Fox News and CNN — Scores Weekend Ratings Win For MSNBC

Alex GriffingMay 9th, 2023, 1:24 pm
 

Jen Psaki

MSNBC host Jen Psaki, President Joe Biden’s former press secretary, scored a notable weekend win for the network on Sunday as she led cable news at noon in both the key 25-54 age demographic and in total viewers.

Psaki scored 846,000 total viewers to just beat Fox News Live’s Eric Shawn with 841,000 viewers and CNN’s Jake Tapper, who scored 638,000 with a replay airing of State of the Union. Psaki won the demo with 128,000 viewers to CNN’s 113,000, while Fox came in third with 109,000.

The previous Sunday, Psaki came in a close second to Fox with 827,000 total viewers to 829,000 viewers. Fox also won the demo for the last Sunday in April with 115,000 viewers to Psaki’s 107,000. CNN landed third with 73,000 demo viewers and 548,000 total viewers.

Psaki’s show launched in mid-March with strong ratings and solid interest. Her debut, in which Psaki argued for the left to embrace the “woke” label and interviewed New York City Mayor Eric Adams on a subway car, brought in 1.094 million total viewers and 137,000 demo viewers. Fox still won the hour in total viewers despite Psaki raking in more than a million viewers, but she did win the demo and nearly doubled MSNBC’s viewership from the previous hour which saw 572,000 viewers.

Since Psaki’s launch, Fox News Live still leads at noon with an average of 951,000 total viewers and 119,000 demo viewers. Psaki, however, is a very close second with 917,000 total average viewers and 116,000 demo viewers, making for some very rare weekend competition between the two networks. CNN, meanwhile has averaged 548,000 total viewers and 91,000 demo viewers since mid-March in the time slot. Psaki was the only non-Fox News host to win an hour in total viewers, although CNN scored several wins in the demo.

Psaki’s win over Fox is not only notable as it is rare, but also given MSNBC’s struggles in the ratings over the weekend – particularly in the demo. MSNBC averaged 58,000 total day demo viewers on Sunday, landing the network in a solid third place.

CNN led in the total day demo with 91,000 viewers to Fox’s 90,000. In total viewers, Fox was far ahead with 850,000 total day viewers. MSNBC was in second place with 451,000 total day viewers, followed close behind by CNN’s 446,000 total day viewers. MSNBC beat CNN for the second month in a row in April, averaging 490,000 total viewers to CNN’s 425,000.

Here is a full breakdown of Sunday’s cable news ratings by show:

Total Viewers (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
639		 CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND:
384		 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
255		 ALLEN JACKSON:
43		 —
7a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
943		 CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND:
491		 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
351		 WAKE UP AMERICA WEEKEND:
169		 —
8a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
1138		 CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND:
535		 KATIE PHANG SHOW:
452		 — —
9a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
1207		 STATE OF THE UNION:
671		 SUNDAY SHOW W/J. CAPEHART:
485		 — LAST MAN STANDING:
21
10a SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES:
1457		 FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS:
686		 VELSHI:
589		 NEWSMAX NEWS IN-DEPTH:
219		 LAST MAN STANDING:
48
11a MEDIA BUZZ:
1016		 INSIDE POLITICS:
565		 — GREG KELLY THIS WEEK:
180		 LAST MAN STANDING:
106
12p FOX NEWS LIVE:
841		 STATE OF THE UNION:
638		 INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI:
846		 RECORD WITH GRETA WEEKLY:
152		 LAST MAN STANDING:
147
1p FOX NEWS LIVE:
761		 FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS:
528		 ALEX WITT REPORTS:
699		 DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY:
125		 LAST MAN STANDING:
125
2p FOX NEWS SUNDAY:
728		 CNN NEWSROOM:
571		 YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN REPRTS:
550		 ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE:
111		 LAST MAN STANDING:
113
3p SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES:
620		 CNN NEWSROOM:
458		 — WISE GUYS WITH JOHN TABAC:
89		 LAST MAN STANDING:
125
4p FOX NEWS LIVE:
577		 CNN NEWSROOM:
413		 SYMONE:
406		 PRESIDENTS AND UFOS: THE:
123		 LAST MAN STANDING:
117
5p BIG SUNDAY SHOW, THE:
856		 CNN NEWSROOM:
625		 POLITICS NATION:
393		 GREG KELLY THIS WEEK:
87		 LAST MAN STANDING:
118
6p FOX REPORT WITH JON SCOTT:
902		 CNN NEWSROOM:
581		 AMERCAN VOICES W/MENENDEZ:
450		 GRETA VAN SUSTEREN BROKEN:
103		 LAST MAN STANDING:
137
7p SUNDAY NIGHT IN AMERICA.:
1309		 CNN NEWSROOM:
494		 INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI:
420		 GORKA REALITY CHECK; THE:
175		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
78
8p LIFE, LIBERTY AND LEVIN:
1538		 WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON:
350		 MEHDI HASAN SHOW:
519		 HUCKABEE:
109		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
55
9p NEXT REVOLUTION, THE:
983		 2010S:
304		 AYMAN:
529		 IT?S SUPERNATURAL:
85		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
63
10p GUTFELD!:
729		 — LEGUIZAMO DOES AMERICA:
369		 GORKA REALITY CHECK; THE:
107		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
61
11p LIFE, LIBERTY AND LEVIN:
542		 WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON:
198		 LEGUIZAMO DOES AMERICA:
258		 DAY OF OUTRAGE:
54		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
45

25-54 Demo (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
56		 CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND:
46		 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
29		 ALLEN JACKSON:
28		 —
7a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
103		 CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND:
71		 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
27		 WAKE UP AMERICA WEEKEND:
29		 —
8a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
140		 CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND:
102		 KATIE PHANG SHOW:
50		 — —
9a FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY:
153		 STATE OF THE UNION:
147		 SUNDAY SHOW W/J. CAPEHART:
73		 — LAST MAN STANDING:
6
10a SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES:
155		 FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS:
128		 VELSHI:
95		 NEWSMAX NEWS IN-DEPTH:
35		 LAST MAN STANDING:
4
11a MEDIA BUZZ:
125		 INSIDE POLITICS:
98		 — GREG KELLY THIS WEEK:
36		 LAST MAN STANDING:
15
12p FOX NEWS LIVE:
109		 STATE OF THE UNION:
113		 INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI:
128		 RECORD WITH GRETA WEEKLY:
19		 LAST MAN STANDING:
33
1p FOX NEWS LIVE:
85		 FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS:
104		 ALEX WITT REPORTS:
93		 DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY:
17		 LAST MAN STANDING:
21
2p FOX NEWS SUNDAY:
78		 CNN NEWSROOM:
113		 YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN REPRTS:
89		 ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE:
21		 LAST MAN STANDING:
15
3p SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES:
80		 CNN NEWSROOM:
101		 — WISE GUYS WITH JOHN TABAC:
16		 LAST MAN STANDING:
16
4p FOX NEWS LIVE:
68		 CNN NEWSROOM:
75		 SYMONE:
47		 PRESIDENTS AND UFOS: THE:
28		 LAST MAN STANDING:
19
5p BIG SUNDAY SHOW, THE:
88		 CNN NEWSROOM:
136		 POLITICS NATION:
55		 GREG KELLY THIS WEEK:
6		 LAST MAN STANDING:
24
6p FOX REPORT WITH JON SCOTT:
78		 CNN NEWSROOM:
128		 AMERCAN VOICES W/MENENDEZ:
42		 GRETA VAN SUSTEREN BROKEN:
5		 LAST MAN STANDING:
35
7p SUNDAY NIGHT IN AMERICA.:
94		 CNN NEWSROOM:
105		 INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI:
34		 GORKA REALITY CHECK; THE:
12		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
17
8p LIFE, LIBERTY AND LEVIN:
114		 WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON:
59		 MEHDI HASAN SHOW:
35		 HUCKABEE:
3		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
12
9p NEXT REVOLUTION, THE:
59		 2010S:
90		 AYMAN:
41		 IT?S SUPERNATURAL:
6		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
9
10p GUTFELD!:
72		 — LEGUIZAMO DOES AMERICA:
24		 GORKA REALITY CHECK; THE:
6		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
7
11p LIFE, LIBERTY AND LEVIN:
77		 WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON:
50		 LEGUIZAMO DOES AMERICA:
35		 DAY OF OUTRAGE:
7		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
13

As for the three cable news networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

Total viewers:

CNN: 446,000

Fox News: 850,000

MSNBC: 451,000

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 91,000

Fox News: 90,000

MSNBC: 58,000

Here are the prime time averages — encompassing shows which air from 8-11 p.m. — in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

Total viewers:

CNN: 319,000

Fox News: 1.08 million

MSNBC: 472,000

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 79,000

Fox News: 82,000

MSNBC: 33,000

For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.

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Alex Griffing - Senior Editor

Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing