MSNBC Just Had Its Most Dreadful Ratings Period In 6 Years

Despite a heavy period of news that included the Boston Marathon bombings and the Jodi Arias trial, MSNBC's second-quarter ratings plunged to their lowest level since 2007.

In primetime, MSNBC drew an average of 584,000 total viewers and 196,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. Those numbers were down 16% and 12%, respectively, from the second quarter of 2012. And they accounted for quarter lows not seen since the fourth and second quarters of 2007, respectively.

The network had seen signs of this coming in some dreadful monthly ratings, particularly in May. The same factors contributed to the network's ratings decline over the full quarter. "The Rachel Maddow Show" suffered its lowest-rated quarter in terms of total viewers since 2008. And June alone was the lowest rated month ever for Maddow in both total viewers and in the 25-54 group.

New host Chris Hayes continues to pull in sluggish ratings for "All In With Chris Hayes," which in its first full quarter on air provided MSNBC with the lowest-rated 8 p.m. hour in the 25-54 demographic since 2006.

It comes as a disappointment to a network that built much post-election hype while surging in the key 25-54 demographic immediately after President Barack Obama's re-election. BuzzFeed said MSNBC was poised to challenge Fox News, but that hasn't been the case.

Here's a look at the year-over-year plunge:

Fox News continues to remain at the top of the ratings among the cable networks, its 46th consecutive quarter there and 138th consecutive month. In total viewers, Fox News beat CNN and MSNBC combined in both total day and in primetime viewers, while surpassing both in the key 25-54 demographic.

The network also had the five highest rated cable news programs in the quarter: "The O’Reilly Factor" (2,859,000 total viewers); "Hannity" (2,107,000); "The Five" (2,096,000); "Special Report with Bret Baier" (2,071,000); and "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith" (1,814,000).

But Fox's total-day viewership gain is most owed to Megyn Kelly, who will soon be moving to primetime. "America Live," in the 1-3 p.m. ET hours, saw its second-best rated quarter ever.

Six months into new President Jeff Zucker's reign, CNN's second-quarter ratings were a bit of a mixed bag. The network did see surges in both total-day and primetime viewers compared to the second quarter of 2012, putting it in second place above MSNBC. Still, its June ratings dipped to the network's lowest point since last August, before Zucker came in.