Editing MSNBC (section)

== Ratings and reception ==
In September 2018, approximately 87 million households in the United States were receiving MSNBC, amounting to 90.7 percent of pay television subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |last= Bucholtz |first=Andrew |date=September 10, 2018 |title=Nielsen coverage estimates for September see gains at ESPN networks, drops at MLBN and NFLN |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/nielsen-coverage-estimates-september-espn-nbcsn-nbatv-mlbn-nfln.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911022308/https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/nielsen-coverage-estimates-september-espn-nbcsn-nbatv-mlbn-nfln.html |archive-date=September 11, 2018 |access-date=January 9, 2020 |website=Awful Announcing}}</ref> [[Nielsen ratings]] showed that MSNBC ranked second among basic cable networks, averaging 1.8&nbsp;million viewers{{clarify|is this per year, per day, in the highest peak hour of a particular TV viewing season?|date=December 2024}} in 2019, behind rival [[Fox News]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |last2=Johnson |first2=Ted |date=December 27, 2019 |title=Cable Ratings 2019: Fox News Tops Total Viewers, ESPN Wins 18–49 Demo As Entertainment Networks Slide |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |url=https://deadline.com/2019/12/cable-ratings-2019-list-fox-news-total-viewers-espn-18-49-demo-1202817561/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114141444/https://deadline.com/2019/12/cable-ratings-2019-list-fox-news-total-viewers-espn-18-49-demo-1202817561/ |archive-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Michael |date=December 26, 2019 |title=Most-Watched Television Networks: Ranking 2019's Winners and Losers |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/network-ratings-top-channels-fox-news-espn-cnn-cbs-nbc-abc-1203440870/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106110035/https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/network-ratings-top-channels-fox-news-espn-cnn-cbs-nbc-abc-1203440870/ |archive-date=January 6, 2020}}</ref>

In 2022, average weekday primetime viewership was 1.2&nbsp;million, compared to rival Fox News's 2.3&nbsp;million, a decline of 21% from the previous year, and with 148,000 viewers in the "key demographic" of viewers aged 25–54.<ref name="Hill22">{{cite web |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/3776681-fox-news-tops-2022-cable-ratings/ |title=Fox News tops 2022 cable ratings |website=The Hill |date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref><ref name="statista">{{cite web | url= https://www.statista.com/statistics/373814/cable-news-network-viewership-usa/ |title= Leading cable news networks in the United States in November 2022, by number of primetime viewers |website=statista |date=December 15, 2022 |access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref> In 2023, ''Variety'' reported that ''The Beat'' was one of the two "most-watched news programs on cable", alongside ''[[The Five (talk show)|The Five]]'' on Fox News.<ref name="auto1"/>

During the first night of the [[2020 Democratic National Convention]], MSNBC had an average viewership of over 5 million, the highest among three major cable news networks and ahead of [[CNN]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ellefson  |first=Lindsey |date=August 18, 2020 |title=MSNBC Edges CNN With Most Viewers for Monday's DNC |url=https://www.thewrap.com/dnc-night-1-ratings-cnn-msnbc-fox-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114000359/https://www.thewrap.com/dnc-night-1-ratings-cnn-msnbc-fox-news/ |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |access-date=October 3, 2020 |website=[[TheWrap]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Demographics ===
A 2014 [[Pew Research Center]] study found that MSNBC's audience was more moderate than that of [[BuzzFeed]], ''[[Politico]]'', ''[[The Washington Post]]'', and ''[[The New York Times]]'', but slightly more liberal than [[CNN]]'s audience.<ref>{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=October 21, 2014 |title=Ranking the media from liberal to conservative, based on their audiences |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/10/21/lets-rank-the-media-from-liberal-to-conservative-based-on-their-audiences/ |access-date=August 5, 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601104549/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/10/21/lets-rank-the-media-from-liberal-to-conservative-based-on-their-audiences/ |archive-date=June 1, 2016}}</ref>

A 2019 Pew Research Center survey showed that among Americans who named MSNBC as their main source for political news, 74% are ages 50 or older, with 44% ages 65 or older. 95% of those who named MSNBC as their main political news source identify as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]]; among the eight most commonly named main sources for political and election news by US adults, MSNBC and Fox News have the most partisan audiences.<ref name=":46">{{Cite web|last=Grieco|first=Elizabeth|date=April 1, 2020|title=Americans' main sources for political news vary by party and age|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/01/americans-main-sources-for-political-news-vary-by-party-and-age/|access-date=October 3, 2020|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]|language=en-US|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114000444/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/01/americans-main-sources-for-political-news-vary-by-party-and-age/|url-status=live}}</ref>