Jen Psaki Faces Ratings Setback as MSNBC’s “The Briefing” Struggles to Find Its Audience
Two months in, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is facing a challenging transition from podium to primetime. Her MSNBC show, The Briefing, launched with high hopes and heavy expectations—but recent numbers tell a different story.
Since its debut on May 6, the show has averaged 1.1 million total viewers, a steep 44% decline from the 1.8 million viewers previously drawn by Rachel Maddow and interim host Alex Wagner in the coveted 9 p.m. time slot. While Psaki’s political pedigree added intrigue to the show’s launch, viewership trends suggest the audience isn’t fully on board—at least not yet.
Falling Behind the Competition
Psaki’s new role places her head-to-head with some of the biggest names in cable news—most notably Sean Hannity on Fox News, who has averaged 2.9 million viewers in the same time frame. Even CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, hosting The Source, has outpaced Psaki in the critical 25–54 age demographic, attracting 108,000 viewers to Psaki’s 90,000. Hannity, by comparison, leads the demographic with a commanding 344,000.
While The Briefing slightly edges out CNN in total viewership—543,000 for The Source versus Psaki’s 1.1 million—the margin is slim compared to the broader expectations for MSNBC’s primetime flagship.
High Expectations, Harsh Realities
Jen Psaki’s move to television was met with intrigue and cautious optimism. As a seasoned political communicator and a familiar face from the Biden administration, she carried a built-in audience—but converting political fame into television ratings has proven more difficult than anticipated.
She stepped into a slot long held by Rachel Maddow, one of MSNBC’s most iconic and trusted voices. Replacing Maddow was always going to be a formidable task, but the ratings drop has sparked internal concerns within Comcast, MSNBC’s parent company. The network has already been battling a broader downtrend in cable news viewership and internal scrutiny over its editorial direction.
What’s Next for Psaki and MSNBC?
The numbers are prompting tough questions behind the scenes: Can The Briefing evolve to better engage viewers? Will Psaki shift tone or format to boost relevance? Or is MSNBC already considering adjustments to its primetime strategy?
Industry insiders say all options are on the table as the network watches closely to see whether Psaki’s show can find its rhythm—or whether bigger changes will be necessary to stabilize the slot.
Final Thoughts
Jen Psaki has built her career on navigating high-pressure political landscapes—but now, she faces a very different kind of scrutiny in the world of ratings and media performance. Whether The Briefing can recover or not remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: cable news remains a tough battleground, even for seasoned political insiders.
Stay tuned.