MSNBC’s Joy Reid may have avoided being fired over controversial posts on her old blog, but her program’s declining ratings present a new problem for the network.
Back in April, Twitter sleuths uncovered old posts on Reid’s now-defunct blog “The Reid Report” that were homophobic, transphobic, and conspiratorial in nature. Reid apologized for the posts but claimed that she didn’t remember writing them and that she may have been hacked — a spurious claim that remains unsubstantiated. (RELATED: Joy Reid’s Hacking Story Filled With Holes)
MSNBC stood by Reid, but her show “AM Joy” has been suffering losses in ratings ever since the scandal. (RELATED: Joy Reid’s Ratings Drop After Hacking Scandal)
According to a review of cable television ratings by Contemptor, Reid’s show lost a staggering 21 percent of viewers in the nearly-three months since the first controversial blog posts surfaced in late April.
In the three months prior to the unearthed blog posts, the Saturday and Sunday episodes of “AM Joy” enjoyed an average of 1.113 million total viewers and 238,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic.
In the months that followed, the show’s average total viewership fell to 876,000 and the average key demo fell to 172,000.
That’s a 21 percent decline in total viewers and a 23 percent decline in the key demo.
Reid’s Saturday show is where she experienced the biggest losses, with a 24 percent drop in total viewership and a 31 percent drop in the key demo.
While MSNBC remained loyal to Reid throughout the controversy surrounding her old blog, it appears her viewers are not quite as faithful.