MSNBC host Ronan Farrow's new cable program is just a week old, but the ratings for his target audience of young people are falling far below expectations.
According to
Deadline Hollywood, Farrow drew just 34,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic for his new show "Ronan Farrow Daily," which debuted Feb. 24. By comparison, one year ago in the same time slot, "Andrea Mitchell Reports" logged 106,000 in the same demographic.
The figures could be disappointing for network executives. Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, told
The New York Times in October that one of the reasons for hiring Farrow was to reach younger viewers, few of whom regularly watch cable news.
"Griffin may have high hopes, but Farrow doesn't look like the right pick to shake things up or shatter any preconceived notions," the
National Review said.
"Farrow will continue to do what he's been doing for the past 26 years: striking a perfect pitch of the liberal elite. That's probably not the missing ingredient at the network, whose increasingly preening tone hasn't helped ratings," the Review added.
Farrow's largest audience, according to Deadline Hollywood, was among adults 50 and older.
"It is one of the big perks of this job that I get to follow you," Farrow told Andrea Mitchell after her lead in to his show Monday, according to the Review. "And honestly, if I'm able to capture a fraction of the integrity that you keep in your reporting, I am A-OK on my show, so thank you for that intro."
Farrow's early numbers may be somewhat of a surprise given the amount of publicity he has received recently after his mother told Vanity Fair magazine that Farrow's biological father could be
Frank Sinatra.
He was also in the news for a widely discussed tweet he issued during the Golden Globes in January
criticizing a tribute to Woody Allen, his father of record.
"Missed the Woody Allen tribute — did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after 'Annie Hall?'" he wrote, referring to his sister Dylan Farrow saying that she had been
molested by Allen.