That's Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti discussing Rachel Maddow on a Friday segment of BREAKING POINTS.
One of the biggest flaws in the segment?
Krystal on Rachel announcement that her five-day a week MSNBC talk show would be dropping to four nights a week for April and then, in May, drop to one weeks, "She addressed the plan directly and here's what she had to say." They rolled the clip of Rachel stating:
I'm back. I'm going to be here all this month with Monday through Thursday nights. Uh, for big news events, for things like lead up to the elections, I will, of course, be here for more than that. But that is the general plan. I will be here this month, Monday through Thursday nights, and then starting in May, I'm going to be here weekly, I'm going to be here on Monday nights.
When it was made, the weekly announcement? That was April 11th. To air the announcement last Friday and keep repeating "next month." You've just got one week -- this week -- left of April. That should have been underscored by Krystal and Saagar instead of just repeating her "this month" over and over
That was probably one of the biggest mistakes -- especially if we leave out the blouse Krystal's wearing which is flat out ugly and reminds us of a vintage Barbie top from the 70s, specifically the Mod Era Barbie #8621 Blue Gingham Check Skirt and Blouse.
But we also feel the analysis/reasoning they offered was a mistake as well. For example, Krystal insisted that Rachel has "a committed fan base where no matter where they are, what time of day, they're going to show up" and that, "I understand why they threw basically whatever at her that she asked -- whatever schedule that she asked for."
Krystal understanding MSNBC's move may be accurate but that network's an idiot. There's no reason Krystal has to be. And, no Rachel doesn't "have" this committed fan base that will show up everywhere for her.
Saturday, March 19, 1977, CBS aired the last new episode of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW which found Mary playing a character similar to her Laura Petrie on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW. Saturday, September 3, 1977, CBS finished the reruns of that final season of TMTMS
Sunday, September 24, 1978 -- a year later, Mary Tyler Moore was back on CBS in MARY playing a character a great deal like Mary Richards and Laura Petrie.
Now, unlike Rachel Maddow, Mary Tyler Moore was beloved by TV viewers.
B-b-but MARY was a variety show, not a sitcom!!!!!
Well, three days shy of five months, CBS brought the show back as a variety show and sitcom hybrid and entitled it THE MARY TYLER MOORE HOUR. You could argue the change in format helped -- MARY was ranked the 64th most watched network prime time show for its run and THE MARY TYLER MOORE HOUR was ranked . . . 54th. A slight improvement. Not enough to save the show.
Nielsen ratings largely reflect viewer habits.
Rachel's not that popular. She's MSNBC 'popular,' you could argue. But that's not very popular at all. Her return this month? The ratings did go up -- or up-ish? Two million viewers in prime time. But that was April 11th. By April 21st, she was down to 1/7 million and her show was the 47th most watched show ("original" meaning in production and airing a non-repeat -- list does not include THE GOLDEN GIRLS, SEINFELD, FRIENDS, etc that are no longer in production).
By contrast, Tucker Carlson was at number five, Sean Hannity at number eight, Laura Ingram at number 11, Anderson Cooper at 38, Erin Burnett at 39 . . .
She's MSNBC 'popular' which is kind of disheartening -- like going out for cheerleader and ending up instead on the pep squad or going out for the football team but ending up the equipment manager.
MSNBC 'popular' really isn't popular at all and, in a supposed fact-based world, we should grasp that, not distort it.
And TV ratings are based on viewing habits. Meaning? Even MSNBC 'popular' means nothing if you're not there pitching in. A weekly show? Yeah, Rachel will be replaced -- even by her addicts -- we'd argue. You might be able to lead a Weight Watchers meeting once a week but not a cult.
The politically stupid need direction and, if Rachel's not providing it to them on a daily basis, they'll find someone else. .