When beleaguered MSNBC host Chris Hayes went on vacation last week, the ratings for his show “All In w/ Chris Hayes” actually increased in the most important demographic.
MSNBC’s Ari Melber took over for Hayes for four days, March 30 through April 2. On average, Melber managed to net an average 116K viewers in the coveted 25-54 demographic. By comparison, Hayes only netted an average of 101.6K viewers in the demo a week earlier, and only 73.8K the week before that. (RELATED: Chris Hayes Delivers MSNBC’s Worst Ratings In A Decade)
Hayes returned for a very special edition of “All In” on Friday, April 3; a “fantasy candidate draft” featuring political wonks picking 2016 candidates as a live audience looked on. The result was his worst ratings in over a month, only 56K in the demo and 327K overall.
In fairness to Hayes, viewership often takes a dip on Fridays, and especially on holidays such as Good Friday. But by comparison, Fox News’ re-airing of “Killing Jesus” in the same timeslot netted 385K in the demo and nearly 2 million viewers overall.