President Donald trump just gave TV shows with low ratings an idea how to boost their viewership. The secret, based on recent events, is to mock the president on their show, enough for Trump to tweet controversial remarks against the host.
“Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski has Trump’s rant to thank for the record-breaking viewership of their program which the president described as “low rating.” A day after the billionaire’s Twitter rant in which he described Mika’s alleged botched facelift as causing her to bleed, the number of their show’s viewers jumped to 1.66 million.
Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses. Too bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2017
A 70 percent boost
Data from Nielsen said on June 30, the day that Joe and Mika were supposed to go on leave for the weekend holiday, the hosts went back on air to reply to Trump’s tweets. They enjoyed a 70 percent boost in viewers from the average 2nd quarter 2017 viewers of 997,000 to 1.66 million. In the key market segment of 24-54, the show had 408,000 viewers.
With the big jump in its audience, “Morning Joe,” which airs on MSNBC, toppled “Fox & Friends” on that day, a pro-Trump show on Fox News that is the number one show in the morning time slot for cable news.
For the June 30 episode, “Fox & Friends” had 1.56 million viewers, Variety reported.
Advertising revenue hike too
In that particular episode of “Morning Joe,” co-host Mika addressed the previous tweet by Trump, who called her “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and said that she was bleeding badly from a facelift when she visited Mar-a-Lago, Forbes reported.
She disclosed that she had a small cosmetic procedure done on her chin. Mika recalled the billionaire even complimented the minor surgery. For his part, Joe assured viewers that he and Mika are both okay. However, he added, “The country is not.”
Forbes pointed out that Trump’s tweets translate into higher ratings and more money for the MSNBC show.
Even before the incident, “Morning Joe’s” brand and rating enjoyed a boost in demand from media buyers. It has led to a hike in advertising rates. In 2016, the show earned $17.3 million, which is a 37 percent increase from its 2015 advertising revenue. Thanks to Trump’s “endorsement,” the show is expected to enjoy another boost in advertising income in 2017.
Joe added that for years, they have heard that all the senators and congressmen watched “Morning Joe.” “The main difference is that we have a president that reacts in real time to what we’re saying on our show," he said.
