Let’s just call it the best of times and the worst of times for NBC tonight as Rachel Maddow is about to go live at 9 PM ET with revelations of President Donald Trump’s tax returns at the exact same time the season finale of This Is Us is about to air.
Less than a hour ago, the MSNBC host announced on social media that her recently ratings bursting show had gotten their hands on the much desired info on the former member of the NBC family. As the spotlight and undoubtedly more than a few viewers swung over to what MSNBC would have and what it would look like, the highly anticipated Season 1 ender of the Dan Fogelman drama suddenly seemed to dim:
Huddle up. #ThisIsUs starts in 20 minutes! pic.twitter.com/3OwOX7j4zs
— This Is Us (@NBCThisisUs) March 15, 2017
Even when Maddows lowered the wattage a bit with the added tweet that it is the ex-Celebrity Apprentice‘s 2005 tax returns she will be putting out for show:
What we’ve got is from 2005… the President’s 1040 form… details to come tonight 9PM ET, MSNBC.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 15, 2017
Contacted by Deadline, NBC said they had no comment on the apparent audience cannibalization. And, in this age of multi-platform TV, maybe the Peacock net is putting their hopes in viewers making the best of both worlds by watching the cable news show live and DVRing or following the drama in a non-liner fashion – read “hopes” as “prayers” in this case of Peter certainly not telling Paul what he is up to, so to speak.
However, Maddow’s move also comes as Nielsen go into what could be a fourth day of no ratings from the data collecting company due to a power outage at their Florida facility – potentially stealing even more attention from what was supposed to be This Is Us‘ big night
Still, as the big breakout show of the 2016/2017 season, tonight’s ‘Moonshadow’ episode had conclusions, cliffhanger and Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack, the bar and the car written all over it – but the drama now may end up on the other Comcast-owned channel
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