ON FIRST SHOW, RONAN FARROW FAILS TO ATTRACT YOUNGER VIEWERS

The principal issue facing each of the cable news networks has been, how do you attract a younger audience? MSNBC programmers must have concluded that the way to do so is to put a younger face on camera as one of its hosts. Enter Ronan Farrow, the 26-year-old son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen (or possibly Frank Sinatra). The MSNBC programmers could not have been happy with the first day’s result. Ronan Farrow Daily attracted just 21,000 in the 18-49 age group with its debut on Monday, and 46,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo. Total adult viewers: 216,000. At one point he encouraged viewers to tweet their opinions about who is handling the Ukraine crisis better, #RFDObama or #RFDPutin — an apparent effort to determine how engaged younger viewers might have been with the show. There was no immediate indication how many tweets were actually generated. Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that reporters are being “ordered” to sign a pledge that they will not ask Farrow any questions about his personal life if they want to attend a benefit where he is being honored tonight (Wednesday). He will be receiving the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Exploration and Journalism from the Reach the World organization. Reporters have received the notice: “All press are required to stay strictly on message. Any press who ask guests or Mr. Farrow about off-message topics will be immediately escorted out of the event.”

Update: The audience for Farrow’s second show dipped to 209,000 total adult viewers, while in the 25-54 demo, the audience slid to 45,000.