MSNBC on Friday released a new commercial that strikes an earnest tone for the new Trump era, with stars like Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell taking turns reading the First Amendment. The promo is the first released since new MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler took over the network earlier this year.
The black-and-white commercial starts off by flashing “This is our First Amendment” across the screen, followed by Maddow reading the opening line: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
While she speaks, the promo shows pictures of Maddow and other MSNBC stars, like the “Morning Joe” crew, Symone D. Sanders, and former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele. The montage is accompanied by serious-sounding piano keys.
Other MSNBC talent take it from there, with Ari Melber, new primetime host Jen Psaki, and O’Donnell narrating the rest of the clip.
The add ends with the phrases: “This is what we do” and “This is who we are” shown on screen.
A person familiar with the ad said it was spearheaded by Maritza Berta, MSNBC’s VP of Marketing, and aimed to reinforce the channel’s brand and key journalists.
MSNBC revamped its lineup last month and jettisoned former host Joy Reid — a move that delighted President Trump. The channel has been one of the president’s favorite targets in recent years, but the new promo seems to suggest they won’t back down.
The changes to MSNBC’s lineup — like moving Psaki into primetime and hiring new weekend hosts — came the same month Kutler was named the new CEO. Kutler had been serving as the boss in an interim basis since January, when former MSNBC President Rashida Jones stepped down.
Jones’ exit came on the heels of MSNBC’s ratings cratering following the 2024 election. The channel’s viewership has picked up since President Trump’s inauguration, though, with MSNBC averaging 1.45 million weekday primetime viewers since Jan. 20 — up 169% compared to the 539,000 primetime viewers the channel averaged in Dec.
Fox News, as TheWrap reported last week, has not only been lapping the cable competition in the ratings, but all of the broadcast networks as well. Fox News averaged 3.63 million weekday primetime viewers between the start of the year and mid-March, narrowly edging past CBS for the best weekday ratings.
MSNBC’s recent momentum has it solidified as the second-place cable news channel, and its 1.45 million weekday primetime viewers looks good compared to the 1.3 million primetime viewers the channel averaged last March, although that average included ratings from its weekend shows as well.
