Sad news for crazy people everywhere: MSNBC goes 'Forward' into the ratings abyss

If MSNBC were a human being, it would be standing on a crate in Central Park wearing a "the end is nigh" sandwich board while screaming about how "they" hid a transmitter in its fillings. As pedestrians walked by it would assail them with nonsense shouted at the top of its powerful lungs. Every now and then someone would actually enjoy and appreciate MSNBC's ravings, so it would probably find a few interested parties who would say "yeah, the filling transmitter. I have one too." Most folks, however, would watch for a few seconds before turning back to reality.

This frightens me, because I love MSNBC. MSNBC is the unfiltered fever dream of the modern progressive left. There is literally no left-wing opinion too bat-crap crazy for the network, so all the dirty little instincts that Democrats keep locked away in their heart-of-hearts hit the screen at maximum velocity. Even things that would be captured by the sanity-filters at statist outfits like the New York and Los Angeles Times are welcome there. For conservatives who want to know the darkest desires of the left, the Dems' TV network of record is an invaluable resource. That's why news of its ratings implosion has me so worried. From the New York Times:

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Rachel Maddow, the biggest star on the MSNBC cable network, just posted her lowest quarterly ratings results ever. “Morning Joe,” MSNBC’s signature morning program, scored its second-lowest quarterly ratings, reaching an average of just 87,000 viewers in the key news demographic group. And “Ronan Farrow Daily,” the network’s heavily promoted new afternoon show, which stars a 26-year-old Rhodes Scholar with a high-profile Hollywood lineage, has been largely a dud. Though it has mostly happened quietly, which may be a comment on the cable network’s larger status in the media landscape, MSNBC has seen its ratings hit one of the deepest skids in its history, with the recently completed third quarter of 2014 generating some record lows.

How low?

MSNBC’s recent results have not been encouraging. During the third quarter, Ms. Maddow reached an average of 183,000 viewers in the audience component that most matters to MSNBC’s advertisers, viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, her lowest total since she started her show in 2008.

Keep in mind, that's the network's "biggest star." Now, liberals watch TV. Yes, there are a few of those "we read an article at the Daily Kos about how television hinders child development so we don't own one" types but, for the most part, lefties watch TV news like everyone else. So how can MSNBC's ratings have fallen from their already dismal low point? MSNBC President Phil Griffin blames an overall disinterest in cable news and - of course - Washington gridlock.

Mr. Griffin said that a general apathy about American politics has also hurt the network. “You can look at the dysfunction in Washington, the wariness about politics, the low approval ratings,” he said. “That’s had an impact. But we’ve got to adjust; we’ve got to evolve.”

See, at least some of MSNBC's problems are a direct result of "low approval ratings." Not of the network, mind you, but of politicians in Washington. Since, according to MSNBC, America simply hates congressional Republicans, you should probably just assume that it's their fault. ...Just like everything else. At least one anonymous executive may have a slightly more reality-based take on the situation:

“In terms of Rachel, everybody knows every night what she’s going to say,” he said. “The network just doesn’t surprise you.”

That's close, but it's still not quite right. MSNBC is surprising us - almost on a daily basis. Unfortunately, it's doing so by broadcasting the abject insanity of its hosts. The network's problem isn't that it's not "shocking" enough, it's that people are utterly shocked that people as loopy as Chris Matthews, Chris Hayes, Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton, and Rachel Maddow are actually allowed on-air. MSNBC's radical left-wing philosophy has been given its chance, and it's been rejected. Network brass can try and pin the blame elsewhere, but that's the very simple truth. No one is watching because no one is buying what they're selling. As I said before, that's worrisome. First of all, I like knowing what the enemy is thinking. More importantly, if the ratings are bad enough, MSNBC might change the way it operates. I'd hate to think that the comedy provided by the likes of Matthews and Sharpton might one day leave our airwaves.