The Rachel Maddow Show Explained

Genre:Political news program
Director:Rob Katko
Presenter:Rachel Maddow
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Episodes:1500+
Executive Producer:Cory Gnazzo
Producer:Steve Benen
Location:New York City
Camera:Multi-camera
Runtime:60 minutes
Channel:MSNBC
Last Aired:present

The Rachel Maddow Show (also abbreviated TRMS) is an American news television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET time slot Monday evenings.[1] It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public profile via her frequent appearances as a progressive pundit on programs aired by MSNBC. It is based on her former radio show of the same name. The show debuted on September 8, 2008.

History

The Rachel Maddow Show premiered on September 8, 2008. Keith Olbermann, then host of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, was Maddow's first guest. Olbermann has been credited for persuading MSNBC to give Maddow her own program. Maddow had served as a regular guest host for Countdown when Olbermann was absent. The Rachel Maddow Show replaced Verdict with Dan Abrams.

In a 2019 segment about One America News Network (OANN), Maddow called the network "literally [...] paid Russian propaganda" based upon a Daily Beast article which reported that an OANN reporter also wrote freelance articles for the Russian state-owned Sputnik. In response, OANN sued Maddow, Comcast, MSNBC and NBCUniversal Media.[2] U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant dismissed the suit in 2021, ruling that Maddow's statement was a statement of opinion (thus protected by the First Amendment) and would not be construed by a reasonable viewer as an "assertion of objective fact."[3] Bashant also found that California's anti-SLAPP law applied, meaning that OANN had to pay the defendants' attorneys' fees.

Maddow took a hiatus from February to April 2022 and, upon returning, announced that the show would move from its daily format to weekly on Mondays beginning in May, in order to focus on podcast projects as well as to serve as executive producer for an upcoming film based on her book Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House.[4] [5]

In May 2022, the program was retitled MSNBC Prime on nights that Maddow did not host. It otherwise retained the same production staff, format, and presentation as The Rachel Maddow Show, with its guest hosts often being pundits who had a similar style to Maddow.[6] In June 2022, MSNBC announced that Alex Wagner would be Maddow's long-term replacement in the time slot on Tuesdays through Fridays beginning August 16,[7] with her show's title later announced on August 3 as Alex Wagner Tonight.[8]

Since 2024, the program also airs a recap on Sunday as part of Prime Weekend, which also recaps from Alex Wagner Tonight,, The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, All In with Chris Hayes, The ReidOut and Inside With Jen Psaki.

Production

The Rachel Maddow Show is broadcast from Studio 3-A at the NBC Studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

The broadcast is available on many platforms besides MSNBC, including msnbc.com,[9] audio podcast,[10] video podcast,[11] text transcript,[12] YouTube,[13] and weblog.[14]

The series has occasionally used theater audiences, including the 92nd Street Y in New York City on December 20–22, 2010;[15] the Free State Brewery in Lawrence, Kansas, on February 23, 2011;[16] and the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 5, 2010 (to mark the impending Super Bowl XLIV game featuring the New Orleans Saints under the name "The Rachel Maddeaux Sheaux").[17]

Guest hosts

Ratings and reviews

2008–2016

The Rachel Maddow Show debuted on September 8, 2008, with 1.5 million viewers (483,000 of whom were in the 25–54 demographic). Early reviews for her show were mostly positive. Los Angeles Times journalist Matea Gold stated that Maddow "finds the right formula on MSNBC", while The Guardian wrote that Maddow has become the "star of America's cable news". Associated Press columnist David Bauder called her Keith Olbermann's "political soul mate" and referred to the consecutive Olbermann and Maddow shows as a "liberal two-hour block" that was "averaging just under 2 million viewers a night" in October 2008. New York Times writer Alessandra Stanley opined: "Her program adds a good-humored female face to a cable news channel whose prime time is dominated by unruly, often squabbling schoolboys; Ms. Maddow's deep, modulated voice is reassuringly calm after so much shrill emotionalism and catfights among the channel's aging, white male divas."

On September 16, 2008, the show drew 1.8 million viewers (with 534,000 in the 25–54 demographic), beating Larry King Live and becoming the highest-rated MSNBC show of the night. Maddow's ratings success on September 16 prompted her MSNBC colleagues on Morning Joe to congratulate her on the air, including Joe Scarborough, who said it was "just one of those times where good people do well." In the month of March 2009, the average number of viewers dropped to 1.1 million, part of a general trend in the ratings decline for cable news programs. During the third quarter of 2009, the show was ranked in third place behind Fox News's Hannity and CNN's Larry King Live. The average total number of viewers for the show's airtimes during that period was 992,000.

During the first quarter of 2010, Maddow's show pulled well ahead of Larry King Live, regularly beating the show in overall and primetime ratings and becoming the second-highest rated program in its time slot, behind only Fox News's Hannity. The show continued its lead during the second quarter of 2010, staying well ahead of CNN's Larry King Live for the third consecutive quarter and achieving higher primetime and overall ratings.[18]

In September 2012, Maddow viewership in the 25–54 demographic topped that of Hannity on Monday and Tuesday and in the demographic's daily average for the week, though not in the week's cumulative viewership for the time slot. The week was MSNBC's strongest since February 2009. At the time, the network regularly ranked "a distant second" to Fox News viewership.

In May 2013, the show delivered its lowest-rated month—717,000 viewers—since it debuted in September 2008, and its second-lowest with adults 25–54 with 210,000 viewers in that category, finishing behind FNC's Hannity and CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight.[19]

In November 2013, during the off-year election coverage, Maddow was "up significantly, averaging second place in both measures with 1.267 million viewers and 313,000 adults 25–54." This placed the Maddow Show second, behind Fox News' Megyn Kelly but ahead of CNN's Piers Morgan Live.[20]

2016–present

Following the November 2016 election of Donald Trump as president, The Rachel Maddow Show became a leading outlet for criticism of Trump, especially for the allegations that the Russian government had interfered in the election and had assisted Trump with his presidential campaign. For the week beginning February 13, 2017, Maddow's 9 p.m. ET show averaged 2.5 million total viewers, giving the host her best single week since just before the 2008 election, when the program pulled in an average of 2.6 million viewers. This also gave the show its second best week ever.[21] In February 2017, TRMS was watched by the largest number of viewers in the show's 9-year history.

On March 14, 2017, Maddow revealed the first two pages of Trump's 2005 federal tax return on the program. The documents were obtained by journalist David Cay Johnston, who was a guest that night.[22] Before the program aired, the White House released a statement acknowledging that Trump paid $38 million in federal income taxes in 2005.[23] The White House also accused MSNBC of "violating the law" by discussing Trump's 2005 tax documents.[24]

In March 2018, The Rachel Maddow Show was America's highest-rated cable news show, besting Fox News' Hannity, with Variety stating that "Maddow averaged 3.058 million viewers for the month, narrowly topping Hannity’s 3.00 million."[25]

In ratings numbers released in July 2019, the show slipped to fifth place, with an average of 2.5 million viewers in the overall cable ratings behind Hannity with 3.3 million viewers, Tucker Carlson Tonight with 3.1 million viewers, The Ingraham Angle with 2.6 million viewers and The Five with 2.5 million viewers.[26]

In early 2021, the show achieved its highest ratings in its history,[27] averaging 4.3 million viewers in January and 3.7 million in February, making it the highest rated program on all of American cable television, including non-news programming, and also averaged the most viewers for cable news in the 25–54 age demographic.[28] By June 2021, The Rachel Maddow Show had fallen to fourth place overall with 2.3 million overall viewers, and fifth place across the 25–54 demographic, averaging 289,000 viewers.[29]

Following the show's shift to a weekly format, it was reported that viewership had increased to 2.5 million by June 2024, and was the network's highest-rated program.[30]

Awards and nominations

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tornoe . Rob . Where's Rachel Maddow? MSNBC host won't be on the air much moving forward. . 2022-05-14 . . en . May 17, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220517140846/https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/tv/rachel-maddow-return-msnbc-host-20220503.html . live .
  2. Web site: Rachel Maddow sued for $10 million by One America News in defamation case. June 23, 2021. CBS News. November 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191108001232/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rachel-maddow-sued-by-one-america-news-for-10-million-in-defamation-case/. live.
  3. Web site: Gardner. Eriq. May 22, 2020. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC Beat Libel Suit Over "Russian Propaganda". June 23, 2021. The Hollywood Reporter. June 23, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210623004357/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/rachel-maddow-msnbc-beat-libel-suit-russian-propaganda-1295702/. live.
  4. Web site: Rachel Maddow to take temporary break from her MSNBC show to work on movie and podcast projects. January 31, 2022. January 31, 2022. Atkinson. Claire. Business Insider. January 31, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220131191958/https://www.businessinsider.com/rachel-maddow-takes-break-msnbc-primetime-movie-podcast-2022-1. live.
  5. Web site: Rachel Maddow returns to MSNBC, will switch to once a week. Associated Press. April 11, 2022. Bauder, David. April 16, 2022. April 12, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220412034730/https://apnews.com/article/business-rachel-maddow-ali-velshi-arts-and-entertainment-094cda977c40fc1d236625760220fd24. live.
  6. Web site: 'MSNBC Prime' becomes 'Rachel Maddow' replacement four days a week . 2022-05-06 . NewscastStudio . en-US . May 6, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220506201157/https://www.newscaststudio.com/2022/05/04/msnbc-prime-maddow-replacement/?og=1 . live .
  7. Web site: Hipes . Patrick . 2022-06-27 . Alex Wagner To Take Over Rachel Maddow's Time Slot At MSNBC . 2022-06-27 . Deadline . en-US . June 27, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220627172646/https://deadline.com/2022/06/alex-wagner-rachel-maddow-show-new-anchor-msnbc-1235052712/ . live .
  8. Web site: Alex Wagner's New MSNBC Show Will Be Titled Alex Wagner Tonight . 2022-08-05 . www.adweek.com . en-US . August 2, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220802105916/https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/alex-wagners-new-msnbc-show-will-be-titled-alex-wagner-tonight/511762/ . live .
  9. Web site: The Rachel Maddow Show . . March 5, 2014 . December 8, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181208142346/https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show . live .
  10. Web site: audio podcast . June 9, 2017 . June 24, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170624102956/http://podcastfeeds.nbcnews.com/audio/podcast/MSNBC-MADDOW-NETCAST-MP3.xml . live .
  11. Web site: video podcast . June 9, 2017 . June 8, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170608084252/http://podcastfeeds.nbcnews.com/audio/podcast/MSNBC-MADDOW-NETCAST-M4V.xml . live .
  12. Web site: Transcripts . . July 18, 2017 . July 18, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170718192413/http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show . dead .
  13. Web site: The Rachel Maddow Show. MSNBC. YouTube. June 9, 2017. July 31, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160731175800/https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDIVi-vBsOEyETRGoRP9y8zhyu6bHl6iK. live.
  14. Web site: Maddow Blog . . May 31, 2017 . January 4, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220104131432/https://www.msnbc.com/maddowblog . live .
  15. Web site: Tuesday, Dec. 21st - Rachel Maddow show. NBC News. April 1, 2022. April 1, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220401225852/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna40898769. live.
  16. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/24/2678453/with-the-rachel-maddow-show-kansas.html 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' Kansas edition
  17. Web site: 'The Rachel Maddow Show' for Friday, February 5th, 2010; Read the transcript to the Friday show . . February 8, 2010 . . August 10, 2016 . January 20, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220120182509/https://www.today.com/id/wbna35297509 . live .
  18. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/q2_2010_ratings_msnbc_down_from_last_year_tops_cnn_in_primetime_166199.asp Q2 2010 Ratings: MSNBC Down From Last Year, Tops CNN in Primetime
  19. News: TV Ratings: MSNBC Falls Below HLN in May, Rachel Maddow Hits Lows. Michael. O'Connell. May 29, 2013. April 1, 2022. The Hollywood Reporter. April 1, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220401225709/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-msnbc-falls-below-559923/. live.
  20. Michael O'Connell, "TV Ratings: Election Coverage Gives Fox News' Megyn Kelly a New Best", The Hollywood Reporter (November 6, 2013).
  21. News: Maddow's ratings get a Trump bump. The Boston Globe. March 9, 2017. March 8, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170308132917/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2017/03/06/maddow-ratings-get-trump-bump/aPvFAI6vTrHC7DCtse9J0I/story.html. live.
  22. News: Rachel Maddow Lands a Scoop, Then Makes Viewers Wait. Grynbaum. Michael M.. March 15, 2017. The New York Times. March 15, 2017. March 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170315125701/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/us/politics/rachel-maddow-trump-tax-return.html. live.
  23. News: Trump paid $38M in 2005 income tax, White House says before report . NBC News . March 15, 2017 . March 15, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170315011834/http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-paid-38-million-2005-federal-taxes-2005-white-house-n733611 . live .
  24. Web site: White House accuses MSNBC of violating the law over Maddow Trump tax reveal . . March 15, 2017 . March 15, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170315042335/http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/white-house-accuses-msnbc-of-violating-the-law-over-maddow-trump-tax-reveal/amp/ . live .
  25. Web site: Otterson . Joe . Rachel Maddow Tops Sean Hannity in March, Fox News Host Tops 2018 Q1 . Variety . April 5, 2018 . June 26, 2018 . June 26, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180626083248/https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/rachel-maddow-ratings-sean-hannity-1202745403/ . live .
  26. News: Joyella . Mark . MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Slips To 5th Place In July Ratings . . July 30, 2019 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190731025558/https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2019/07/30/msnbcs-rachel-maddow-slips-to-5th-place-in-july-ratings/ . July 31, 2019 . July 31, 2019 .
  27. Web site: CNN Tops January Ratings With Big Gains In Primetime Vs. A Year Ago. Deadline Hollywood. Johnson. Ted. February 2, 2021. March 3, 2021. February 2, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210202230029/https://deadline.com/2021/02/cnn-ratings-january-msnbc-fox-news-1234685705/. live.
  28. Web site: February 2021 Ratings: For First Time Ever, MSNBC Finishes No. 1 in Total Day Viewers, But Drops to Third in Adults 25-54. Adweek. Katz. A.J.. March 2, 2021. March 3, 2021. March 3, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210303023633/https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/february-2021-ratings-for-first-time-ever-msnbc-finishes-month-no-1-in-total-day-viewers-but-drops-to-3rd-in-adults-25-54/472460/. live.
  29. Web site: Johnson . Ted . Fox News Tops June And Q2 Viewership, But Plunge In Ratings Continues Across All Major Cable News Networks . Deadline . April 1, 2022 . June 29, 2021 . March 31, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220331151119/https://deadline.com/2021/06/cable-news-viewership-plunges-in-june-1234783434/ . live .
  30. News: Liberals Find a TV Prescription for Election Jitters: Monday Nights. Grynbaum. Michael M.. Koblin. John. June 3, 2024. June 3, 2024. The New York Times. limited.
  31. Web site: Winners at the 38th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. October 5, 2017. cdn.emmyonline.org. National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. New York, NY. 13. . October 7, 2017. October 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171007170125/http://cdn.emmyonline.org/news_38th_winners.pdf. dead.
  32. Web site: Nominees for the 32nd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. August 3, 2011. August 14, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110814023145/http://www.emmyonline.tv/mediacenter/news_32nd_nominations.html. dead.
  33. Web site: Rachel Maddow and Joan Brown Campbell to Receive The 2010 Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award. Interfaith Alliance. August 16, 2010. July 22, 2017. March 4, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180304073108/http://interfaithalliance.org/rachel-maddow-and-joan-brown-campbell-to-receive-the-2010-walter-cronkite-faith-a-freedom-award/. live.
  34. Web site: Rachel Maddow & Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell Awarded the Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award. www.adweek.com. July 22, 2017. January 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210118082241/https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/rachel-maddow-rev-dr-joan-brown-campbell-awarded-the-walter-cronkite-faith-freedom-award/37859/. live.
  35. Web site: Rachel Maddow To Receive Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award. Danny. Shea. August 17, 2010. April 1, 2022. Huff Post. April 1, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220401225709/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rachel-maddow-to-receive_n_684434. live.
  36. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/rachel-maddow-glamour-magazine-ajcs-cynthia-tucker-among-planned-parenthoods-2010-maggie-award-33161.htm Rachel Maddow, Glamour Magazine, and the AJC's Cynthia Tucker Among Planned Parenthood's 2010 Maggie Award Winners
  37. Web site: Nominees for the 33rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. December 16, 2012. June 2, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130602021026/http://www.emmyonline.tv/mediacenter/news_33rd_nominations.html. dead.

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