You might not realize it, but CNN is pretty much dying. If you’re anything like me, you don’t learn this because you don’t watch that network. And that’s precisely its problem – neither does anyone else.
According to The Wrap, Nielsen ratings for the network noted that a mere 444,000 people tuned into CNN’s primetime lineup during the week of January 16 to 22. Yes, that’s for the whole week. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there were only 93,000 viewers in the 25 to 54-year-old demographic (the most coveted age range for viewers) for the week.
It was the first time since 2014 that the network failed to bring in the 450,000 viewers needed for the threshold.
And according to the outlet, things don’t appear as though they will be getting better any time soon.
If you haven’t heard, the network just came under new leadership, with Chris Licht being brought on as CEO. It was expected that he would turn things around for CNN.
And right off the bat, he made a wide array of changes, all of which seemed to head toward success. Journalists and reporters were cut or left, and programming was changed. Hell, even the network’s affinity to spin everything toward the liberal narrative seemed to be diminishing.
But in the months and weeks, since those changes were made, ratings haven’t improved all that much, as The Wrap noted.
More changes, especially to programming, are expected and are already in the works. But as an insider of the network says, they are likely “to make matters worse.”
Now, some of you glass-half-full people or avid CNN fans might just want to assume that it’s not really the network’s fault. After all, with all of the media sources nowadays, perhaps people aren’t just watching as much cable news programming.
So why, then, is Fox News’ ratings through the roof?
According to the same ratings and for the same time period, Fox News had over 2 million viewers and 256,000 in the 25 to 54 demographic.
And it’s not like this is a new trend for Fox or CNN. As week after week proves, it’s an ongoing trend that’s lasted for months. Hell, even CNN’s left-leaning rival MSNBC is given fairly good numbers each week.
So what does this say?
Well, to be sure, it’s all about CNN and its poor choices. Most distinguished has to be their history of pushing a liberal agenda and narrative on people they are clearly out of touch with.
Of course, it doesn’t help that even fan favorites of the political left, like Don Lemon, has come under fire for several things. One of the most recent is referring to his co-hosts as “backup dancers” while insinuating that he’s the main event.
Naturally, this hasn’t helped him bring up the network’s ratings.
Lemon was intentionally moved from his previous role to one of the network’s more popular shows by CNN leadership in the hopes that he would be able to boost ratings and get the network back on track.
But according to The Wrap, Lemon’s morning show “CNN This Morning” only brought in about 331,000 viewers for the same week mentioned above. Meanwhile, Fox’s rival morning show, “Fox & Friends,” saw nearly 1 million viewers tune in.
And, as mentioned before, the evening “primetime” programming doesn’t perform any better.
As a result of these poor ratings and a continued downward trend in viewership, CNN has had to make some rather disastrous decisions. This month they were even kicked out of their own building.
The CNN Center, as it’s been called for years, will no longer house the network in Atlanta, Georgia. Instead, they will be moving back into a much smaller building where their network began. Of course, their headquarters will still remain in New York, where the company is bound to continue its liberal trend and thus its own demise.
