‘The Artist Formerly Known As MSNBC’ Tries to Tout Its Ratings As It Provides Evidence of Its Demise

Over at MS NOW, they are experiencing something of an identity crisis – due to their having to adopt an entirely new identity. It was last month when the network, known for decades as MSNBC, had to slough off all connections to NBC News and its parent company, the result of seeing Comcast-Universal spinning off its cable channels into a separate entity called Versant.

It has been a process of a divorce taking place, beginning this past summer. First, MSNBC had to move its productions out of 30 Rockefeller Center, then it told shared staffers and reporters to choose which network to remain with by year's end. Then they cut off the shared staff and equipment in D.C., and MSNBC had to begin getting its syndicated content elsewhere, opting for Sky News. Last month, the split reached culmination, as the new branding of MS NOW was taken on permanently.

As the changeover has taken place, the effect has not been entirely disastrous. The network has managed to retain its audience, staying ahead of also-ran CNN deep in third place, and there have been times when a slight uptick in the meager ratings was realized.

This is not meant to be read as a success story by any means, but the over-caffeinated keyboard jockeys in the PR department at MS NOW are straining to apply porcine lip gloss to their pen-wallowing numbers.

In laughable fashion, the network has come out with a boast that it is enjoying audience figures not realized in a decade, an announcement that strikes one as both surprising and impressive. Then something tragic happened: They gave us the chart of the ratings.

When it comes to these announcements of how well a network is performing, it is the living and breathing embodiment of the age-old maxim that you can make statistics say anything.

For example, CNN will come out with some form of bragging about its success by highlighting a specific metric in the ratings that shows an incremental growth over a highly specific window of time, and declare that to be a form of victory; just ignore that the network lags “SpongeBob SquarePants” and reruns of Hallmark Christmas movies in primetime, when not a single one of its programs breaks the 500,000 viewer plateau.

MS NOW is playing this game, but in an even more inept fashion. It tries to sell the concept that at the end of this year, the network is enjoying an audience double its footprint from a decade ago. In only the most technical measurement (“primetime,” and from a period when it was in third place among the cablers) is this accurate.

The problem: They provided an animated graph that displays something else entirely.

JUST IN: @MSNOWNews ends 2025 with twice as many primetime viewers as a decade ago.

Plus, MS NOW sees double-digit growth among total viewers in total day and weekday primetime since rebrand.

Read more ⬇️https://t.co/o4mtGUvLKs pic.twitter.com/oHLWjJ7Bsx
— MS NOW Public Relations (@MSNOWComms) December 18, 2025

Um, gang? We are able to see the fact that you have been foundering for years. They hope you only focus on the bold running average line, and therefore avoid the cold fact that its current primetime figure is lower than it has experienced for roughly the past eight years. If there is anything to be pleased with on the chart you provided, it is that you may have slowed the bleeding.

Since a peak in 2020, the network has been on a steep downward slope, with the only mitigating factor being that CNN has managed to perform worse over the past decade. MS NOW has not surged into second place; CNN has just managed to become a bigger disaster over that timeframe.

And of course, what neither wants to mention is that Fox News has performed admirably. That network has maintained a constant and sizeable lead, registering 14 of the 15 top-rated news shows. Its show The Five frequently has better ratings than three or four MS NOW shows in primetime, combined. There have been days when that lone program has a bigger audience than all of CNN’s content from 5 pm to 11:00 at night.

2026 will prove to be a challenge for all of the networks, as midterm lag approaches and cord-cutting continues. Just be ready to laugh at any of the touting that is offered up by the desperate PR divisions.

Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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