Ratings: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has been challenging Fox News at 9 p.m

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SOURCE: CNN

URL: http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/24/media/msnbc-rachel-maddow-winning-ratings/index.html

by Brian Stelter


Fox News normally ranks #1 among cable news channels. But lately MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has been challenging Fox at 9 p.m., the centerpiece of the prime time schedule.

"The Rachel Maddow Show" surpassed "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in March among 25- to 54-year-old viewers, the demographic that determines advertising rates.

Maddow was on track to win again in April. But on Monday night the cable news ratings race changed dramatically. Carlson moved from 9 p.m. to 8, replacing Bill O'Reilly, and Fox's 5 p.m. talk show "The Five" moved to 9.
Maddow may or may not benefit from the change. Regardless, executives all across television news have already taken notice of her recent wins.

According to Nielsen data, Maddow also narrowly topped Fox's 8 p.m. hour last week, when Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld filled in for O'Reilly.

Maddow's surge is being fueled partly by her day-in, day-out criticism of the Trump administration. There is an increased appetite for the liberal arguments she has been making for years.

"There's a reason Rachel is beating Fox and CNN," MSNBC president Phil Griffin told CNNMoney in an email. "She's a talented storyteller who's helping her audience cut through all the confusion coming out of Washington. She's connecting dots in ways no one else is."

Maddow is known for flouting the conventions of cable news. She delivers long, informative monologues that sometimes last for 20 minutes.

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