How are the leftists over at NBC doing as Fox News Channel and hosts like Tucker Carlson do better than ever, with Tucker alone bringing in millions of viewers for just his show?
Not too great. Turns out, people don’t want preachy leftists from the coasts yelling at them for being “racist” or some other “ist” all day every day without respite other than very boring and bad commercials that cut in every few minutes.
News on that comes from a (not so) shocking report from RadarOnline, a report which reveals that Chuck Todd, host of Meet the Press since 2014, has slumped to his worst ratings period since he took over nearly a decade ago. Now that he’s doing so poorly, Todd is apparently “under siege” from a very concerned network eyeing the plummeting ratings warily. As it reports:
“In top-secret ratings data that has caught the attention of network brass, RadarOnline.com has learned Meet The Press — the longest running show in television history — recorded its lowest-rated quarter over the April-May-June period. Todd peaked at more than 4 million viewers in the first quarter of 2017 (January-February-March) in the midst of Donald Trump’s presidency.
“But in recent Nielsen Media Research ratings, the magic number faded to a paltry 2.4 million — shaving off a third of the notoriously goateed anchor’s audience. Making matters even worse for the Peacock network and its executive, Todd has also been in ratings free fall with viewers in the younger A25-54 demo.”
That demographic, 25-54 year-olds, is the prime demographic that advertisers want to see. It’s one that Tucker does well with but that MSNBC and CNN have been struggling with, with Chuck Todd’s show apparently doing noticeably badly with it.
Commenting on Todd’s failure to attract the younger demographic, which theoretically should be his because younger people tend to be more liberal than conservative, Radar Online added that:
“At his peak, the man who ex-prez Trump referred to as sleepy eyes had more than 1.2 million viewers in the first quarter of 2017, the same period when he enjoyed 4 million overall viewers. But over the past three months, the star NBC political analyst logged just 492,000 fans in the all-important younger demographic.”
Yikes. That’s not good. Or, as a TV industry insider told Radar Online, “This does not augur well for Chuck.”
That demographic is the one he needs to secure, or at least attract. If he can’t do that, if he can’t bring in that audience and somehow get it to watch his show, then that doesn’t bode well for his future at MSNBC.
NBC, for its part, has mostly stuck with Todd, even as his ratings have gone into freefall. It recently released a statement that said:
Todd, who serves as NBC News’ political director in addition to moderating the Sunday program, has led a rapid expansion of the Meet the Press brand across broadcast, audio, newsletters, and streaming, and Meet the Press NOW advances the team’s early commitment to News NOW, where Todd has anchored Meet the Press Reports — which takes an in-depth look at one hot-button issue each week — for four seasons.
Carrie Budoff Brown is senior vice president of Meet the Press, John Reiss is executive producer, and MTP Daily executive producer Melissa Frankel will continue as EP of Meet the Press NOW.
Meet the Press NOW will also launch with a new audio show cast, adding to NBC News’ leading podcast lineup and allowing consumers to access NBC News’ unparalleled political reporting and analysis on their preferred platform.
In recent months, the team has also launched “Meet the Midterms” — a long-term focus on reporting from key battleground states — and will produce a series of election night specials on NBC News NOW moderated by Todd that will feature news, data, and analysis during each major primary night of the 2022 primary season.
Still, rumors abound that Todd is “under siege” as his ratings collapse. Even if NBC is sticking with him for now, we could soon see another leftist handed a pink slip.
By: TheAmericanTribune.com, editor of TheAmericanTribune.com. Follow me on Facebook and Subscribe to My Email List