(RepublicanInformer.com)- In late January, MSNBC’s top-rated host Rachel Maddow announced that she was taking a hiatus from “The Rachel Maddow Show” to work on a movie project with actor Ben Stiller. And already, MSNBC’s ratings are taking a hit.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” is the cable news outlet’s only ratings giant, but on the second day of Maddow’s weeks-long hiatus, the network lost nearly 30 percent of its audience in the key 25-54 demographic.
Day 2 of the “No Maddow Show” drew only 201,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, down 29 percent compared to the previous week when Maddow was still hosting. Its total viewership was a paltry 1.6 million, far below competitor Sean Hannity’s 2.78 million viewers during the same hour.
The only good news for MSNBC is Anderson Cooper’s CNN show did much worse. But that’s not saying much.
“AC360,” which expanded to a two-hour program after Chris Cuomo’s departure, drew just 176,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, and only managed to eke out a total viewership of 615,000.
Maddow, who recently signed a $30 million a year contract with the Comcast-owned MSNBC, did say that she would break her hiatus for major news events, like President Biden’s upcoming State of the Union Address on March 1. But she will not return to full duties until April and hinted that other absences could follow in the future.
Maddow is currently on hiatus to work on the film adaptation of her podcast “Bag Man,” which chronicles the downfall of Nixon’s disgraced Vice President Spiro Agnew in the early 1970s.
Maddow will serve as executive producer on the film which will be directed by actor Ben Stiller who is producing the project along with SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
In the meantime, Maddow viewers will be stuck with substitute hosts like MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi who just won’t be able to draw the same kind of audience as Rachel Maddow herself.
