Friday’s exclusive interview with presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden wasn’t enough to push “Morning Joe” ratings above those of dominant competitor “Fox & Friends” — but it was close.
According to Nielsen ratings, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” brought in 2.093 million total average viewers in the 8 a.m. ET hour, when Biden’s appeared on-air for an interview with Mika Brzezinski about the sexual assault accusations against him. Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” brought in 2.094 million in that hour, just 1,000 more than “Morning Joe.” In the advertiser-coveted age demographic of 25 to 54, MSNBC lagged farther behind, pulling in 321,000 viewers for the 8 a.m. hour compared to Fox News’ 416,000.
Overall, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET, when all three major cable news networks run their morning shows, Fox News brought in 1.665 million total viewers with 319,000 in the demo. MSNBC secured 1.630 million with 245,000 in the demo. In last place by both measures was CNN’s “New Day,” with 587,000 total average viewers, of whom 125,000 were in the demo.
“Fox & Friends” has consistently bested “Morning Joe” and “New Day.” In March, it was the highest-rated morning show in cable news with 1.7 million average viewers, of whom 332,000 were in that key demo.
At the end of the first quarter of 2020, “Fox & Friends” marked 73 consecutive quarters as the highest-rated morning show in cable news with 1.8 million average viewers and 341,000 in that demo, which was its highest-rated quarter ever in total viewers. The show beat “Morning Joe” and “New Day” combined in total viewers last quarter.
During the “Morning Joe” interview, Biden flatly denied former senate staffer Tara Reade’s accusation of sexual assault and called on the National Archives to release any record of a 1993 complaint that Reade has said she filed related to her encounters with the then-senator.
“No, it is not true. I’m saying unequivocally that it never, ever happened,” the former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate told Brzezinski Friday.