CNN spent the majority of summer below 1 million viewers, even worse during primetime

Despite being a jam-packed summer of breaking information, viewers continued to flee from the so-called “most trusted name in news.”

From June 1 by way of August 31, the information cycle didn’t take a summer trip, which included the migrant disaster at the southern border, skyrocketing crime in cities throughout the nation, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, rising inflation considerations, the tragic Surfside condominium constructing collapse, the battle over infrastructure spending on Capitol Hill, the stunning overturned conviction of Bill Cosby, the resignation of Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Biden administration’s chaotic navy withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

However, none of the main headlines had been sufficient to salvage CNN’s dwindling viewership. 

Over the course of 92 days, CNN failed to succeed in 1 million viewers on 53 of them, roughly 58% of the summer, in response to Nielsen information. The community averaged simply 603,000 in whole day viewership, a staggering 42% lower from Summer 2020. 

CNN GOES ENTIRE WEEK WITHOUT REACHING 1 MILLION VIEWERS

At one level this summer, CNN suffered a 13-day stretch with out ever reaching 1 million viewers all through the total day from July 28 by way of August 9. The breaking information of Cuomo’s introduced resignation broke the community’s streak of six-digit viewership on August 10. 

CNN’s primetime lineup, which offers the community’s most-watched programming, went a whopping 80 out of 92 days below 1 million viewers, a devastating 87% of the time and marking over a 50% drop from final 12 months. 

“Cuomo Prime Time,” CNN’s most-watched present, common a measly 948,000 viewers from June by way of August, falling below 1 million viewers over two-thirds of the time at any time when anchor Chris Cuomo was on-air, which is a 50% lower from the 1.9 million viewers he averaged a 12 months in the past. By comparability, Fox News’ “Hannity” averaged 2.8 million viewers and MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” averaged 2.2 million viewers this summer, neither of them ever falling below 1 million viewers. 

Cuomo had a turbulent summer as he was swept up in his brother’s scandals and conveniently went on a “long-planned vacation” the similar week the governor resigned. 

“Anderson Cooper 360” trailed behind averaging 914,000 viewers this summer, lacking the 1 million viewer benchmark 51 out of 66 days on-air, or 77% of the time. That marks a 47% reduce from Anderson Cooper’s 1.7 million-averaged viewers this time final 12 months. CNN’s 8 pm ET timeslot was trounced by Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which averaged 3.1 million viewers this summer, and was additionally overwhelmed out by MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” averaging 1.3 million viewers. 

CNN anchor (*1*)Don Lemon, who didn’t juice up his rankings in May by rebranding his present “Don Lemon Tonight” following a widely-panned publicity stunt, had the most crippling viewership during primetime this summer, averaging a crushing 751,000 viewers during the 10 pm ET timeslot, leading to a 54% loss from his 1.6 million viewers he had a 12 months in the past. 

With the exception of his city corridor with President Biden that aired on an earlier timeslot, Lemon reached 1 million viewers simply thrice in his common timeslot from June by way of August, which means he hit 1 million viewers solely 3% of the time. Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” averaged 2.2 million viewers whereas by no means falling below seven-digit viewership whereas MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” averaged 1.5 million viewers and fell brief of the benchmark solely twice this summer. 

CHRIS CUOMO AND HIS PROBLEMATIC YEAR AT CNN

Meanwhile, CNN’s daytime programming largely benefited from breaking information, press conferences and addresses from President Biden in the type of a slight bump in viewership, notably in the closing stretch of summer when the Afghanistan turmoil grew to become a worldwide information story, however regardless had weak viewership general. 

Take “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” for instance. Despite being rewarded with the second hour of programming earlier this 12 months, Jake Tapper, who’s broadly seen as CNN’s most revered anchor, failed to succeed in 1 million viewers 88% of the summer, although his program did considerably profit from varied breaking information occasions that carried him above the benchmark over half a dozen occasions. Before the fall of Afghanistan, “The Lead” went by way of a 44-day dry spell of not hitting 1 million viewers. 

Additionally, Tapper misplaced 40% of his viewers from final summer when he averaged 1.38 million viewers, settling now with a mean of 826,000. 

Perhaps CNN’s weakest hyperlink in the community’s total lineup is its flagship morning program “New Day.” Hoping to revitalize the present with the addition of CNN anchor Brianna Keilar sitting alongside John Berman as half of the on-air shuffle that occurred final spring, it seems such efforts failed miserably as “New Day” by no means reached 1 million viewers this summer. The struggling newscast averaged simply 453,000 viewers, marking a virtually 30% drop from its common viewers of 636,000 in the summer of 2020.

CNN has struggled since President Trump left workplace in January, dedicating the huge majority of its protection since then to the Jan. 6 riot and pro-Trump Republicans regardless of the reality Democrats management all three branches of authorities. 

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The liberal community itself was plagued with controversy this summer. It was revealed in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ report on Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment scandal that his brother, CNN’s star anchor Chris Cuomo, was concerned in the drafting of a press release again in February in response to the allegations. Both liberal and conservative critics referred to as for CNN to droop or fireplace Cuomo, who tried to whitewash his actions as a journalist in an ungainly deal with to viewers following his brother’s resignation. 

The summer additionally marked the uncomfortable return of CNN’s chief authorized analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who had disappeared from the airwaves following his Zoom masturbation scandal final fall till he appeared out of nowhere in June and was grilled by CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota about his handsy habits, sparking a social media meltdown.