MSNBC Dayside Programming Posts Growth In May

For the month of May, MSNBC dayside (M-F 9am-5pm) posted growth in A25-54 and total viewers while Fox News and CNN both declined. MSNBC dayside was up +11%, while the competition was down double digits (vs. FOX News' -14% and CNN's -25%) compared to May 2017. In total viewers, MSNBC was up +4% (vs. FOX News' -9% and CNN's -21%). May marked the 8th straight month that MSNBC beat CNN in total viewers during M-F dayside. For all of cable, MSNBC finished as the #2 most-watched network in total viewers, up from #4 in 2017 (ahead of Nickelodeon and CNN). Among the Top 10 cable networks, MSNBC was the only network to grow in total viewers over 2017. In the key A25-54 demographic, MSNBC dayside continued to narrow the gap with CNN, with less than 10,000 viewers A25-54 separating the two cable news networks. This is the closest MSNBC dayside has been to CNN in four years (since February 2014).

MSNBC prime (M-F 8-11pm) continued to dominate CNN in A25-54 for the 8th straight month and in total viewers for the 18th consecutive month. Prime on MSNBC more than doubled CNN's viewership in total viewers (2.1 million vs. CNN's 865,000). For all of cable, MSNBC prime ranked #8 in A25-54 (ahead of CNN #20) and #3 in total viewers (behind TNT and FOX News, and ahead of CNN #11).

"The Rachel Maddow Show" at 9pm finished the month as the 2nd most-watched program in all of cable news for the 2nd month in a row. "Maddow" delivered 2.6 million viewers-more than doubling CNN at 9pm in total viewers (vs. 846,000). "Maddow" averaged 531,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. CNN's 273,000). This is the 16th consecutive month that "Maddow" beat CNN in A25-54 and the 60th consecutive month in total viewers.

MSNBC prime's "All in with Chris Hayes" at 8pm also bested CNN in both A25-54 - for the 7th straight month - and in total viewers for the 18th straight month. "All In" averaged 336,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. CNN's 287,000) and 1.7 million total viewers (vs. CNN's 926,000). "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" at 10pm beat CNN in both A25-54 for the 8th month in a row and in total viewers for the 36th month in a row. "The Last Word" averaged 2 million total viewers (vs. CNN's 856,000) and 397,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. CNN's 292,000).

"The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" at 11pm topped CNN in A25-54 for the 8th straight month and in total viewers for the 22nd straight month. "The 11th Hour" averaged 324,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. CNN's 246,000) and 1.5 million total viewers-doubling CNN (vs. CNN's 715,000).

"Morning Joe" at 6am topped CNN in A25-54 for the 7th straight month and in total viewers for the 39th straight month. "Morning Joe" averaged 1.1 million total viewers (vs. CNN's 584,000) and 238,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. CNN's 186,000). "Morning Joe" was up +3% in total viewers while Fox News (-4%) and CNN were down (-14%).

Following "Morning Joe," MSNBC's dayside programs at 9am, 10am, 11am and 4pm beat CNN in both A25-54 and total viewers. These MSNBC programs also delivered double-digit growth while their competing programs posted double-digit declines compared to May 2017. In A25-54, "MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle" at 9am beat CNN for the 2nd month in a row (and was up +20% vs. FOX News' -14% and CNN's -23%); "MSNBC Live with Hallie Jackson" at 10am beat CNN (and was up +19% vs. FOX News' -15% and CNN's -28%); "MSNBC Live with Velshi & Ruhle" at 11am beat CNN (and was up +15% vs. FOX News' -15% and CNN's -24%); and "Deadline: White House" beat CNN at 4pm (and was up +11% vs. FOX News' -11% and CNN's -30%) over May 2017. In total viewers, "Stephanie Ruhle" beat CNN for the 16th straight month (and was up +9% vs. FOX News' -9% and CNN's -18%); "Hallie Jackson" beat CNN for the 8th straight month (and was up +3% vs. FOX News' -10% and CNN's -21%); "Velshi & Ruhle" beat CNN for the 8th straight month (and was up +7% vs. FOX News' -10% and CNN's -21%); and "Deadline" for the 8th straight month (and was up +19% vs. FOX News' -10% and CNN's -27%) over May 2017.

All of MSNBC's early evening (5-8pm) programs topped CNN in A25-54 and total viewers. In A25-54, "MTP Daily" at 5pm, "The Beat with Ari Melber" at 6pm, and "Hardball with Chris Matthews" at 7pm each beat CNN for their hours. May 2018 was the first A25-54 demographic victory over CNN for both "MTP Daily" and "The Beat," and the 2nd month in a row "Hardball" bested CNN at 7pm. In total viewers, "MTP Daily" beat CNN for the 13th straight month; "The Beat" beat CNN for the 11th straight month; and "Hardball" beat CNN at 7pm for the 22nd straight month. At 6pm, "The Beat" was the only cable news program to post growth in A25-54 (+8% vs. FOX News' -5% and CNN's -40%) and total viewers (+28% vs. FOX News' -6% and CNN's -38%).

Every hour of MSNBC's weekday programming between 5am-3am beat CNN in total viewers, including: "Morning Joe First Look" at 5am for the 7th straight month; "Andrea Mitchell Reports" at 12pm for the 11th straight month; "MSNBC Live with Craig Melvin" at 1pm for the 7th straight month; "MSNBC Live with Katy Tur" at 2pm for the 7th straight month; and "MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi" at 3pm for the 7th straight month.

Additionally, MSNBC total day (M-Su 6am-6am) bested CNN for the 15th straight month in total viewers. For all of cable, MSNBC ranked as the #3 network among total viewers; CNN ranked #9, down four places from #5 in May 2017.

Year-to-date, MSNBC.com continues to have its strongest year on record for video, up double-digits vs. 2017 monthly average. Video engagement on MSNBC.com now averages 56 minutes per viewer, more than 4x longer than FOXNews.com and 2x longer than CNN.com (source: comScore 2018TD multiplatform video Jan-April monthly averages).

NOTE: May 2018 ratings are based on Nielsen Live+Same data day for 4/30/18-5/27/18. Individual show data represents regular programming only, excluding specials and breaking news.

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