CNN is in serious trouble. Its years of keeping up with its news industry competitors seem to be long over, as the cable network has seen its ratings and public opinion plummet to historic lows – with no indication that the numbers will bounce back anytime soon.
It’s been a rough month for ratings-challenged CNN, which is on pace to finish February with its smallest monthly audience among viewers aged 25 to 54 since June 2014.
According to the NY Post, the network has struggled under new CEO Chris Licht, with its newly launched show “CNN This Morning,” headed by Don Lemon, set to finish February with its lowest monthly audience among total viewers in the 25-54 age group since it launched in November.
Fox News reports that CNN shows “Anderson Cooper 360,” “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and Wolf Blitzer’s “Situation Room” are also on track to notch their smallest audiences this month in the critical demo.
Also, CNN’s “Inside Politics” by John King is set to have its lowest viewed month since August 2005.
While CNN received free publicity as Don Lemon became the news last week, this hasn’t been helpful in attracting viewers.
Last week, Lemon found himself in hot water after an age-related comment towards former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s that moment:
As a result of Lemon’s sexist comments on air, CNN This Morning has been flooded with bad press. This has reportedly upset Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. Over the first 24 days of February, the show averaged 361,000 viewers.
CNN’s previous morning show “New Day” drew 430,000 viewers in February last year before it was canceled due to low ratings.
As for Blitzer’s “The Situation Room” and Tapper’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Fox reports that these shows are on track to lose 40% of their demo audiences from February 2022.
Anderson Cooper’s 8 p.m. ET show is on pace to average only 137,000 demo viewers. According to Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight is on track to average 465,000 in the demo for the same time slot. Cooper’s demo audience has decreased by 38% over last year’s same month
Since Chris Cuomo’s firing in 2021, Licht has been scrambling to fill CNN’s coveted 9 pm ET time slot. Variety recently reported that CNN is getting ready to launch “CNN Primetime,” a 9 pm show that will feature the network’s anchors on a rotating basis.
Meanwhile, several potential hosts outside of CNN have been interviewed for the show, including CBS’ Gayle King and former NBA all-star Charles Barkley.
CNN’s recent problems are karma at work, as the network has built a reputation for pushing out what many perceive as agenda-driven, biased news. CNN is widely seen as catering to partisan politics, leaning heavily toward a liberal bias, and now they’re paying the price of this blatant disregard for objectivity. It’s clear that more and more people are realizing that they can make do without CNN. Without some kind of radical shift in their approach to coverage, it’s hard to believe the downtrend will get reversed any time soon.
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