In an attempt to score younger viewers, MSNBC bet on Ronan Farrow as their next youthful rising star.
His broadcasting debut was blessed after 72 hours on air with an “excellence in journalism” award a year ago.
The “Cronkite Award for Excellence in Exploration and Journalism” for the young son of actress Mia Farrow should have skyrocketed his stock and led him to prime-time network anchoring in no time.
Over the past year, his ratings have stumbled to an all-time low of 13,000 viewers in the target 25-54 demo during Monday’s 1 p.m. broadcast.
After more reports about Farrow’s low ratings potentially leading to his show’s end this week, he spent his time re-tweeting his show’s limited fan base.
Thank you! RT @philmer: Except for watching my local news, yours is the only national news show I watch. You are all around wonderful.
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) February 5, 2015
Thanks for joining! RT @wegerjr: Love watching @RonanFarrow
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) February 4, 2015
Horrifying news. RT @Laurenarlington: Im tuned in again to Ronan Farrow Daily, great reporting as always! @RonanFarrow
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) February 3, 2015
And the review that really matters. RT @DanielKoye: @RonanFarrow hair looking great! pic.twitter.com/8YghV1Ei6k
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) February 2, 2015
Farrow’s attempts to attract a 24-54 audience this past year included talking about playing a “coming of age lesbian video game” and interviewing Miley Cyrus.
His editorial selections were frequently tone deaf to the breaking news of the day and often defaulted to talking about his pet causes.
When he scored newsmakers like Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, he gave softball interviews.
He went into the field to report from the Paris March, but he all he could report back were excuses for President Obama’s no-show. Farrow cited the understandable “limitations’ of the president’s busy schedule.
“Everyone here that I spoke to personally said they understood the limitations of schedule that led to that,” Farrow reported.
While the young television anchor got practice on figuring out who his guests were and how to host a television show, MSNBC is beginning to learn that their channel should not be practice time for broadcast amateurs and activists.
On a positive note: Farrow’s best anchoring was acting as a veejay for the Global Citizen Festival last September. Perhaps Ronan could find a gig at MTV?