Despite extensive advertising and securing President Biden’s final television interview of his term, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell’s interview ratings lost out in a major demographic to comedy shows and reruns on other platforms.
O’Donnell’s interview with Biden that took up the show’s hour drew 1.2 million total viewers and just 97,000 in the critical 25-54 age demographic.
Repeats of “Seinfeld,” “Family Guy”, “Friends,” “The Office,” as well as an episode of “South Park” were some of the shows that won over MSNBC’s interview with people between the ages of 25-54.
During the 10 p.m. ET hour, when O’Donnell’s interview with Biden aired, Fox News Channel commanded a 68% share of total cable news viewers and 71% among viewers between the ages of 25-54, while MSNBC had 23% and 15%, respectively.
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While O’Donnell was beaten out by multiple comedy shows among cable television viewers, his interview with Biden was more highly rated than the prior week.
O’Donnell’s ratings have dropped year-over-year from 2023-2024 with multiple age demographics, however. The ratings for “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” declined 5% in total viewers, 6% with people between 25-54 and 12% with ages 18-49 from 2023 to 2024.
O’Donnell’s show was also down 41% in total viewers, down 45% with A25-54 and down 38% with A18-49 from Dec. 2023 to Dec. 2024. O’Donnell was down 19% with total viewers, down 13% with ages 25-54 and down 85% with ages 18-49 from quarter 4 of 2023 to quarter 4 of 2024.
In 2024, Fox News Channel’s time slot rival to O’Donnell, “Gutfeld,” had an advantage of 69% in total viewers, and 152% higher ratings in the 25-54 age demo and 173% higher ratings in the 18-49 demo.
O’Donnell praised Biden throughout his interview with the president, telling him that he pulled off a “magic trick” by passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and combining “domestic and foreign policy” as president.
