MSNBC’s "The Rachel Maddow Show" shed at least 20% of viewers across the board during the namesake host’s first week of a temporary hiatus that left the network with a massive hole during a key hour of programing. 

Ali Velshi filled in for Maddow during the first week of her time away but failed to draw the audience that MSNBC’s biggest star typically attracts. Instead of alternate programming, MSNBC has continued to brand its 9 p.m. hour as "The Rachel Maddow Show," but with a series of rotating hosts. 

Velshi’s version of "The Rachel Maddow Show," averaged 1.6 million viewers from Feb. 7-10 for a 24-percent drop compared to the previous week when Maddow hosted. Velshi lost 21% of Maddow’s January audience.
  
Velshi also shed 61% of the audience "The Rachel Maddow Show" pulled in during the same week in 2021 when liberal viewers were glued to coverage of the Capitol riot fallout and President Biden's first weeks on the job. 

Velshi also struggled in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, dropping 22% compared to last week and 75% compared to the same week in 2021.