After over 15 years as a daily anchor, longtime MSNBC personality Andrea Mitchell is stepping away from her show *Andrea Mitchell Reports*. At 77, Mitchell is no stranger to the left-leaning network, having spent nearly five decades there, from the 1970s to the present. Her decision to step back coincides with MSNBC’s ongoing struggle to retain viewers, as the network battles a steep decline in ratings amid rising competition from conservative media alternatives that more Americans are finding trustworthy and relatable.
Mitchell, who announced her departure on October 29, is handing off her daily anchor duties, citing a desire to report from the field rather than the studio. “After 16 years in the anchor chair every day, I want time to do more of what I love the most: more connecting, listening, and reporting in the field,” she commented. In her next chapter, she’ll cover critical events from a different vantage point as NBC News’ Chief Foreign Affairs and Washington Correspondent. Yet, it’s hard to ignore that this move also comes amid MSNBC’s sharp viewership losses, casting doubt on the network’s relevance as audiences increasingly turn away from its unabashedly progressive programming.
Once hailed as MSNBC’s longest-running daytime program since launching in 2008, *Andrea Mitchell Reports* has lost its footing in recent years. Viewers’ appetite for the show has faded as the network’s coverage, often marred by anti-Trump rhetoric, has failed to captivate a broad audience. According to recent USTVBD data, *Andrea Mitchell Reports* drew in just 634,000 viewers per episode as of July 2024, a drop of 12% from the previous month.
NBC News executives praised Mitchell’s legacy, writing to staff that she remains “one of the country’s foremost and most trusted experts on foreign policy and domestic politics.” But for a network struggling to remain competitive in the ratings race, her departure is emblematic of the difficulties MSNBC faces in keeping pace with more popular networks. With its once-loyal audience dwindling, Mitchell’s step back may be just the latest sign that MSNBC’s approach is losing appeal.
In the bigger picture, MSNBC’s ratings woes are part of a larger trend: conservative alternatives like Fox News continue to dominate the field. In October, Fox News Channel clinched the top cable network spot, averaging 1.6 million total day viewers—a stark contrast to MSNBC’s 903,000 and CNN’s paltry 532,000. Even when combined, MSNBC and CNN still trailed behind Fox, underscoring the rapid audience shift toward networks that provide coverage more in line with mainstream American values.
Though Mitchell will continue reporting for NBC’s flagship shows like *Meet the Press* and *NBC Nightly News*, the shift highlights a media landscape in which viewers are increasingly skeptical of legacy outlets like MSNBC and CNN. Meanwhile, Fox News continues to pull ahead, providing programming that resonates more with an audience hungry for balanced, common-sense coverage of both domestic and foreign issues.
The timing of Mitchell’s step back is notable, as she plans to pivot her focus after the 2025 presidential inauguration—a critical time that will undoubtedly see political changes and new challenges for the media landscape. The viewership trends we’re seeing now suggest that many Americans are eager for reporting grounded in facts, rather than partisanship, a trend that networks like MSNBC may struggle to reverse.
