At MSNBC, The 'M' Is For (Rachel) Maddow

MarketWatch Columnist Jon Friedman Says Network's New Star Is Opinionated, But Restrained

(MarketWatch)  This is the final column of MarketWatch media columnist Jon Friedman's three-part series examining the prospects of the major cable news networks during an Obama presidency. Last week's looked at CNN. Two weeks ago, Friedman examined the Fox News Channel.

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These days, the "M" in MSNBC might as well stand for Rachel Maddow.

Maddow, 35, has become such a cable-news fixture that it's a little hard to believe she has been hosting her show for only three months, since replacing Dan Abrams.

MSNBC has long needed a boost. It has frequently trailed rivals Fox News Channel and CNN in the ratings, and suffers from a rather spotty professional image at times as well. Sometimes, the network has seemed to be wildly undisciplined, where anchors in prime time are all but encouraged to throw any kind of broadcasting style or editorial concept against the wall and see if it sticks.

For years, MSNBC has been one of the most enigmatic stories in the media world -- and a problem child in the NBC News family. Its big brother, NBC News, has had the top-rated network news show in the breakfast and dinner hours for years. Even when Tom Brokaw retired from anchoring the evening-news program and Katie Couric bolted from co-anchoring "Today," both shows rolled on and didn't miss a beat.

Then there is MSNBC.com, which has helped pioneer uses of multimedia and graphics in more sophisticated ways than its peers. It has deservedly won awards for its prowess.

Recently, MSNBC had to retract a segment in which a mythical pundit "leaked" the "news" that Sarah Palin apparently didn't know that Africa was a continent. That even overshadowed a slip that Portfolio.com's Jeff Bercovici noted not long ago: "Chris Matthews just said that one of President Bush's biggest mistakes was his pledge to get 'Barack Obama' dead or alive."

("Obviously, I was talking about Osama bin Laden, not the guy who just won the presidential election," Matthews added. I'm sure that guy, the President-elect himself, was pleased with the correction.)

To MSNBC executives, Maddow serves as a neat counterpoint to Keith Olbermann, who has also built a strong following. Olbermann is tough-talking, where Maddow is more subtle.

As the New York Times pointed out, MSNBC's ratings surged 158% during the final three months of the 2008 presidential campaign from the year-ago period. (Other news networks also enjoyed major increases during the end of the campaign coverage.)

MSNBC "grabbed special attention by topping CNN for the last month of the race, something it had never done before, and by occasionally topping Fox, the perennial leader, in the audience category to which news advertisers pay most attention: viewers between the ages of 25 and 54."

A pleasant alternative

One of the reasons for her popularity is that Maddow took the time to build a following and gradually let the public discover her.

Before taking on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC, she appeared frequently on the network as well as on CNN . Maddow also gained a following from hosting a syndicated radio program on Air America (yes, she's a liberal; I guess the cat's out of the bag now).

Maddow is a pleasant alternative to the shouting and preening that passes for content on many of the cable-news shows. The General Electric network's newest star presents a nightly prime-time news program that stresses biting but civil discourse.

The audience has been noticing from the start, too. In the 25-to-54 year-old demographic, Maddow outperformed Larry King on CNN in 13 of her initial 25 nights on the air, allowing MSNBC to surpass CNN in her time slot for the first time.

What has been the key to Maddow's early success? Much has been made in the media about her lesbianism, intellectual prowess (a Rhodes Scholar, she has an Oxford Ph. D.) and penchant to dress down in a way that would make Joan Rivers blanch.

New York magazine's Jessica Pressler mght have put it best, though. In a recent profile, she wrote of Maddow: "As one New York acolyte told me, 'She is more like one of my friends than anyone else on television.'"

Is Maddow a star? You bet. I spotted this phenomenon first hand. A few Fridays ago, I had dinner in a Greenwich Village restaurant when word spread through the place that Maddow was seated a few tables away. At that moment, even the jaded New Yorkers in the vicinity craned their necks to get a glimpse of her. That is star quality at work.

The New York Times noted recently that Maddow "has made MSNBC competitive in that time slot for the first time in a decade. The channel at that hour has an average viewership of 1.7 million since she started on Sept. 8, compared with 800,000 before."

Still, Maddow has work to do in the 9 p.m. slot. Her show still trails Fox's "Hannity and Colmes" offering in the ratings.

Surprise star

Maddow's popularity comes as a surprise to veteran media observer Michael Wolff, a Vanity Fair columnist and the author of the forthcoming book on Rupert Murdoch, "The Man Who Owns the News." (Murdoch is the chairman of News Corp. , which owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this column.)

"I am totally surprised that she has turned out to be a breakout star," Wolff told me on Friday. "She is an intelligent, down-to-earth person. (But) I never saw her as a kind of dramatic voice, and I know her from Air America....There was a kind of earnestness to the show, and to her, that made you think, here we are in the liberal ghetto. It turns out that the liberal ghetto turns out to be so large -- or that the conservatives are in a ghetto and the liberals have taken over."

I asked Wolff to analyze Maddow's success. "No surprises, no hysterics, no drama -- just the nice liberal, lesbian down the street," he said, tongue deeply in cheek

Tellingly, Wolff added, "Keith and Chris have much more flair, drama and pizzazz -- maybe that's the point. Good liberal earnestness is the thing now."

Maybe the point really is that cable news shows will now try to find Maddow-like commentators. Bill O'Reilly's breakout success at the Fox News Channel, a division of News Corp., as an in-your-face commentator has spawned imitators, to a degree, such as Olbermann and Comedy Central icon Stephen Colbert.

It seems to be Maddow's time now.

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you like or dislike about Rachel Maddow on TV or on the radio?

Join the online community of Media Web readers by posting comments directly to the MarketWatch.com site.

[sliwas1]

When has Rachel ever cross examined the obvious imperfections of Obamas fiscal policy. You can say what you like about how we got the deficit. However, Obamas way of putting a plug in it was to quadruple it.
Where was Rachel report on the lack of preparation of his administration that allowed wall st biz tycoons H1N1 shots before children did. These are the people in D.C you will allow them to control your health care options. Way too much faith in people...people who often do impose the most highly leveraged ass backward remedies over more clearly defined, less expensive policy measures-options for locking in budget savings.

What is most laughable is the insane imagined support for Obamanation and the Demoncrats now that they own the economic crisis and NOTHING they have done is of consequence to the American citizen and voter except their promise of exponentially higher national debt, budgets, and taxes, taxes, taxes, and more taxes; assure us that they will further kill the economy and drive even more American companies and corporations to seek workers overseas-offshore and eventually assurance that there will be untaxable profits and growth!!!

They could not have designed a better plan to destroy America even if they had simply bombed industry, business, and the corresponding jobs out of existence!

[mt_guy]

Ah-haf! The perfect counterpoint to No Drama Obama! If you''ve watched Rachel''s show at all, you know it''s good manners... or else.

Regardless of which side of the fence she comes down on politically, her brand of discourse is a welcome change from the polarized norms everywhere else.

To me, it''s just pure fun to watch that powerful an intellect at work. Rachel Maddow''s got the juice!

[tigerdaemon]

We love her! Rachel is smart, funny, informed and a pleasure to listen to. I love how she interacts with "Uncle" Pat Buchannan, and can take on the most disagreeable guest with aplomb. We watch her show and Keith O''s show every night. Yes, they have a left leaning slant - we''re completely aware of that - but at least they give one news and views that are intelligent and interesting, with a variety of guests who are in the know. They also allow their guests to finish what they have to say before responding. I appreciate that.

[neonink]

I would like to see her show, but only if Pat Buchanan is nearby.

I prefer a little move level in my watching.. don''t want it slanted too far either way.

[saj210]

I enjoy watching the Rachel Maddow Show. We see eye to eye regarding politics.

She is a breath of fresh air.

[team-coco78]

Keith and Rachel were overly biased during the election turning me off to both. With news of a new show starring Ms. Maddow looming I was even more alarmed. I will have to give her another shot as I was a fan prior to her MSNBC makeover. This was a good article.

[shelleymky]

I find Rachel Maddow very refreshing. She brings the news and her insights in a different way from any other news person I have seen. She is witty, bright, and personable. I wonder how many of the negative comments have to do with her sexual preference? Just a thought.

[pvperson]

I guess you could say "she''s the counter-Coulter".

[jimbo554]

I''m in love with Rachel Maddow. I''d want to marry her if she weren''t g_ay. Oh, and uh, if I weren''t g_ay.

[Razzl]

The next place that needs a makeover is CNBC, a truly needed format (all business all the time) whose current daytime staff are all identical peas in the supply-side fiscal-conservatism pod. The anti-union, pro-ceo, anti-shareholder views that virtually all of the CNBC anchors share makes for a tiresome old-school crankiness that will sound particularly annoying in an era where demand-side economics is going to rule and may as well have its explainers get some air time...

[grumpas]

It''s nice to be able to listen to someone intelligent and informed. Not just the same old rabid right wing nut jobs like O''Reilly and Limbaugh who only know what the Republican party tells them to say! I watch Rachel all the time. But, Keith Olbermann is still my favorite.

[opedanderson]

MSNBC is so in the tank for Obama. I used to watch Keith and Chris but they have so gone into the pants of Obama (even Bill Maher noticed it) that it has become embarassing. While Rachel makes no bones about where her heart is, she has the confidence to invite other to confront her with opposing opinions and views. And she treats them with respect. So I''m watching her.....In fact, I see her taking over Olbermann one day and I would say Good Riddance to that!

[formrusmcsgt]

I can''t watch Maddow....30 seconds of her ending sentences on a high pitch ( a la valley girl) is all I can take.