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Chuck Todd Under Fire As Ratings Slump To Worst Since He Took Over Show In 2014

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Longtime MSNBC host Chuck Todd is reportedly “under siege” amid concerns from the top of the network after another rating slump.

A new report reveals that Todd, who hosts Meet The Press and took over from David Gregory in 2014, has slumped to his worst ratings period since he took over the Sunday morning chair.

“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,” Radar Online reported.

“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,” the report continued.

“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,” the report added.

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“This does not augur well for Chuck,” a television industry insider told Radar Online. “Chuck lost his gig at MSNBC and the guise that he’d rather leave MSNBC completely and focus on Meet the Press on Sunday.”

“But when you are focusing on the Sunday show and it is in freefall, perhaps you have to consider whether it is you and not the show itself that is driving viewers away. NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde must really be concerned. This is like David Gregory all over again,” the insider said.

Cable news data analysis shows that the show’s viewership has plummeted over the years, particularly since 2019.

In April 2019, the show averaged around 1.9 million total viewers.

In April 20221, viewership plummeted to 1 million.

In April of this year, “Meet The Press” averaged around 675,000 total viewers.

Check out the chart below:

Chuck Todd Ratings Chart

Last month, MSNBC and NBC announced they are moving Todd’s “Meet the Press Daily” to a streaming-only option for viewers and changing the name to “Meet the Press Now.”

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The 1 pm hour on MSNBC will now be called “MSNBC Reports” with veteran anchor Chris Jansing.

NBC News president Noah Oppenheim said in a statement: “NBC News is the leader in streaming news. Since our launch, we’ve been committed to delivering the best of NBC News’ journalism, free, to streaming audiences everywhere.”

“Chuck was one of the first broadcast anchors to see the massive potential of streaming and bringing Meet the Press’s daily franchise to NBC News NOW reinforces the platform’s status as the destination for news on streaming,” Oppenheim added.

“His enthusiasm about growing ‘Meet the Press’ beyond the Sunday show and evolving the legacy program for the streaming audience is a prime example of our mission at News NOW: to bring viewers the best of what NBC News has to offer,” Janelle Rodriguez, senior vice president of editorial for NBC News, said in a memo to staff.

NBC 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.”

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