After more than 15 years on air, Andrea Mitchell announced today that she will be stepping back from her daily anchoring duties on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports. The decision comes as the network grapples with declining viewership and pressure to revamp its programming lineup.
Mitchell, 77, revealed on Tuesday that she will transition to a broader role within the NBCU News Group after the January 2025 inauguration, continuing her work as NBC News’ Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Chief Washington Correspondent. Despite the shift, Mitchell will remain a visible presence on NBC News, covering breaking news events and political nights.
Her reporting will still appear across the network’s flagship broadcasts, including TODAY, NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, NBC News NOW, and MSNBC. Mitchell’s new role is being framed as a move to leverage her expertise in foreign affairs and Washington politics on a different scale. She has been with the network since the late 1970s.
Andrea Mitchell MSNBC
“And after sixteen years of being in the anchor chair every day, I want time to do more of what I love the most: more connecting, listening and reporting in the field, especially as whoever is elected next week is going to undertake the monumental task of handling two foreign wars and the political divisions here at home,” Mitchell said on Monday.
Mitchell’s departure from daily anchoring duties follows months of poor ratings for Andrea Mitchell Reports. The show, which launched in 2008 as the network’s longest-running dayside program, has struggled to maintain viewers in recent months. As of July 31, 2024, the program averaged 634,000 viewers per episode, representing a 0.2% rating according to USTVBD. This marked a 12% drop from the previous month, intensifying concerns about the show’s long-term viability.
WASHINGTON – APRIL 30: Andrea Mitchell arrives at the White House Correspondents Dinner April 30, 2011 in Washington, D.C.
While its aggressive coverage may resonate with a core audience, the network appears to be losing broader appeal among viewers who find the relentless anti-Trump rhetoric to be over the top. On Sunday, MSNBC drew criticism for its coverage of former President Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. The network juxtaposed footage from a 1939 Nazi rally with scenes from Trump’s event, a comparison that many found inappropriate and misleading.
MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said on air, “But that jamboree happening right now, you see it there on your screen in that place, is particularly chilling because in 1939, more than 20,000 supporters of a different fascist leader, Adolf Hitler, packed the Garden for a so-called pro-America rally.”
Capehart continued, “Against that backdrop of history, Donald Trump – the man who has threatened to use the military against opponents he calls “enemies from within, who has threatened to use the troops to quell what he says are lawless cities and to use those troops to carry out mass deportations of immigrants – is once again turning Madison Square Garden into a staging ground for extremism.”
