“The Rachel Maddow Show” surged in the ratings this past week. The popular political opinion show that airs on MSNBC weeknights at 9 pm has enjoyed ratings success for several months. This new surge took the show to the top of cable network shows at that hour, surpassing Fox News Channel’s show with Sean Hannity. “The Rachel Maddow Show” had a lot to work with last week with news stories of the Russian collusion case in the Trump presidential campaign, the downgrading in security clearance of President Trump’s staff including his advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the recent story published in The Washington Post claiming several countries have been using Kushner’s inexperience with foreign policy to their advantage.
Here is why “The Rachel Maddow Show” is killing it in television ratings.
Maddow’s Mission
Unlike other cable political pundits, Rachel Maddow’s style has always been honest and thorough. Despite her liberal political views, Maddow looks at all the facts of the issue, dissecting through paperwork and investigations and airing relevant interviews. Maddow’s mission focuses on “using useful information”. Her approach to the Trump presidency has been to focus on what the administration does and not on what it says.
Rachel Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father was a US Air Force Captain and her mother was a school administrator. The family were devout Catholics so it was difficult for Rachel to declare that she was a lesbian. Rachel graduated from Stanford University in 1994 with a Public Policy degree. She received both Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships and earned her PhD at Oxford University. Maddow quickly appeared on political radio shows and CNN news shows. She began subbing for Keith Obermann on MSNBC. In 2008 “The Rachel Maddow Show” premiered.
Ratings climbing since January
Maddow’s show has always been at the top of the cable news show ratings lineup, but since January “The Rachel Maddow Show’s” ratings have grown steadily. “The Rachel Maddow Show” achieved a new height last week. The show rated number 1 in cable television Thursday, March 1. The show also scored ratings in the top 20 over all television stations. “The Rachel Maddow Show” rated 12 just behind top primetime network television series including “The Big Bang Theory”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Will and Grace”.
Big Stories
Rachel Maddow had some big stories to work with last week. The Russian collusion investigation has been a big topic to investigate for months. Maddow has taken time in her show to methodically review documents and timelines involved with the investigation. At the beginning of her broadcast last Thursday night, Rachel Maddow asked the audience: “Where do you want to start tonight?”. Breaking news included the downgrading of several White House official’s security clearance. This was specially breaking news because President Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner’s security clearance was questioned and downgraded giving Kushner and other White House aides less access to important documents.
Also in the news last week was a report by The Washington Post. The report broke the story that officials in several countries including United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico discussed ways to manipulate Jared Kushner. The officials took advantage of Kushner’s lack of foreign policy experience, business arrangements, financial problems and naivety in their favor. Maddow’s special guest that night was the lead writer of the piece, Shane Harris.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” is now leading the primetime cable political news shows. Rachel Maddow is at the top of her game. With plenty of politically intriguing news stories on the horizon, Maddow will continue to have a lot of material to dissect and share.
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