Since the program launched years ago, MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” with host Joy Reid finished the second quarter of 2022 with its smallest audience thus far, which is not a good sign for the host known for spewing toxic and divisive content, which could be why her audience is leaving.
WATCH video about Joy Reid’s rating disaster:
Reid’s program has shed viewers at an alarming rate since she took the place of Chris Matthews, who was forced to retire in March 2020. During the second quarter for its worst turnout since it launched, Reid’s program averaged 1.1 million total viewers. Among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25 to 54, MSNBC’s 7 p.m. ET program also struggled, averaging only 122,000 for its lowest quarterly total ever.
Reid officially took over Matthews’ time slot in July 2020, after having a series of rotating hosts, but seems like that might have been a bad idea for MSNBC. Many criticized MSNBC at the time, for promoting Reid on the heels of her infamous blog scandal in 2018. Reid was arguably best known for claiming homophobic, conspiratorial, and other offensive posts on her pre-fame blog were planted by diabolical hackers at the time of her promotion. Eventually, she got emotional on the air when her claim fell apart. She admitted it seemed unlikely she was hacked but claimed that she did not recall making the offensive remarks, for which she apologized anyway.
Despite her skeletons, “The ReidOut” started strongly, averaging nearly two million viewers during the third quarter of 2020, but has lost 46% of its audience since. As “The ReidOut” has lost a whopping 60% of its viewers in the critical category over the same time period, viewers from the coveted demo are also fleeing. In its inaugural quarter, the far-left program managed 308,000 demo viewers.
Among total viewers or the demo during the second quarter of 2022, Reid’s program was not even among the 20 most-watched cable news programs. Although Reid had trouble attracting viewers, she thrived when it came to generating headlines.
Reid suggested, in June alone, that the media was too neutral in their reporting on the Republican Party, and that it needed to amp up the hostility because both sides were “not the same,” and accused the GOP of intentionally creating an atmosphere of animosity to ensure no Democrats can feel safe and claimed Vice President Kamala Harris does not get a fair shake because the media consists mostly of White males. She has also suggested that, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, adoption agencies may begin to prey on pregnant women.
The rabidly anti-GOP host is also known for promoting conspiracy theories and misinformation to her audience and social media followers. Her troubles coincide with MSNBC’s ongoing problems attracting viewers among the key demo. Since 2003, the liberal network finished the quarter with its smallest audience in the category.
The awful low came despite a crowded stretch of news that included the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and the beginning of the January 6 committee hearings.
