MSNBC’s ‘Everyday Racism In America’ Town Hall Draws Middling Ratings Tuesday Night

On Tuesday night, MSNBC aired its primetime town hall special Everyday Racism in America, an event that was focused on discussing racial bias in modern-day America. The special gained increased media attention hours before its broadcast due to now-former sitcom star Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets about Valerie Jarrett, and Jarrett already being scheduled to appear on the special.

So, how many people tuned into the forum? Not as many as MSNBC typically pulls in during the 9 PM hour.

The town hall, which aired at the time normally reserved for MSNBC’s top-rated program The Rachel Maddow Show, averaged 2.059 million total viewers and 497,000 in the key 25-54 demographic. For the hour, the special placed second in cable news in both metrics, finishing behind Fox News’ Hannity. The Fox show nabbed a total viewership of 3.451 million and 737,000 in the demo.

Overall for the day, Everyday Racism in America finished seventh in total audience and fourth in the key demo. It was the second most-watched program on MSNBC on Tuesday in total viewers, trailing 10 PM’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (2.249 million). The town hall led the network in the demographic.

In comparison to Maddow, however, the special underperformed at 9 PM. For the month of May, Maddow averaged 2.627 million total viewers and 531,000 in the demo, meaning the town hall was 22 percent below Maddow in viewers overall and six percent down in the demographic. For the second quarter to date, the difference was 27 percent in total viewership and 15 percent in the demo, as Maddow has pulled in 2.8222 million total viewers and 584,000 in the key demographic.

MSNBC will air the special again on Sunday evening at 11 PM ET.