The ratings disaster that is CNN has gotten so drastic that 2022’s top-rated cable news program, Fox News’ “The Five,” outdrew its entire primetime lineup.
There may only be so low a network can drop, but CNN is in a race with itself to discover just where that bottom lies.
“The Five” hauled in an average of 3,469,000 viewers per night, a very healthy total that surpassed CNN’s entire take. From “The Lead,” which began at 5 p.m., all the way through the 11 p.m. hour’s “CNN Tonight” could not surpass one Fox News program.
And that program was perched in the 5 p.m. hour. It’s almost enough to make one feel sympathy for CNN. Almost.
CNN is going downhill faster than Biden's economy https://t.co/zvfLIbMseJ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 17, 2023
The network’s downward spiral has hardly slowed under new management. The continual heaving of deck chairs from the Titanic included infamous leftist mouthpieces Brian Stelter and Chris Cillizza, and programs and talent have been roundly shuffled looking for some magic.
Instead of magic, the network’s employees receive one piece of distressing news immediately followed by another. The company announced just last week that the few remaining staff at downtown Atlanta’s CNN Center will now be carted off to the original headquarters.
And then there’s the ratings.
Last year saw “the most trusted name in news” hemorrhage a full 33% of its viewership, a staggering total at a time when Fox essentially held steady in the ratings. Even more grim for the Atlanta-based network was its 36% collapse in the all-important advertising demographic.
That total came on the heels of an even worse audience plunge in 2021.
Just how bad are the numbers for CNN? Fox News in 2022 held the top 17 positions in cable news programming ratings, with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes finally breaking through at #18. To find CNN, you need to scroll down to number #28 for the ironically named “The Lead.”
And who can forget CNN+, the fiasco that cost the network hundreds of millions and unmeasurable credibility only to be yanked within days of its paltry debut?
Despite corporate efforts to improve the network’s standings, CNN is locked into a freefall that shows no signs of slowing. Even its much-touted moves towards the “political center” are not saving it from the apathy of the cable news audience, which obviously craves a conservative viewpoint.
