What the Ratings Say About the State of Cable News – OutKick

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The third quarter of 2021 was not sort to CNN and paints a grim image of MSNBC’s future.

Here’s a have a look at the high 10 cable information packages from 6/28/21 to 09/24/21:

Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News – 3.2 million
The Five, Fox News –2.93 million
Hannity, Fox News – 2.97 million
The Ingraham Angle, Fox News – 2.3 million
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC – 2.2 million
Special Report, Fox News – 2.1 million
Fox News Primetime, Fox News – 1.9 million
Gutfeld, Fox News – 1.6 million
Outnumbered, Fox News – 1.4 million
American Newsroom, Fox News – 1.5 million

MSNBC

In the high 10, there are 9 Fox News packages and one from MSNBC. (Yes, which means 0 from CNN.) For previous references, MSNBC routinely had at the least one different present, The Last Word, in the high 10 in addition to Maddow. In July, The Last Word ranked ninth total however fell to fifteenth this quarter, displaying that MSNBC’s dependence on Maddow raises questions on the community’s future.

Though MSNBC re-signed Maddow by way of the 2024 election at $30 million per 12 months, she has the choice to terminate her nightly TV present in April 2022. Industry specialists predict she’s going to train that choice after which launch a weekly program. So then what? Where does MSNBC go after Maddow leaves its day by day lineup?

The fact is, Maddow is a singular expertise. There isn’t a single particular person in liberal media who can sufficiently exchange her. I clarify why right here.

What will MSNBC do? Perhaps the community will settle with a protected, in-house candidate. NBC executives view Nicolle Wallace as the most blatant alternative. However, Wallace is “obvious” solely as a result of MSNBC has failed to ascertain a strong bench. Instead, it has featured hosts like Joy Reid, Tiffany Cross, Ari Melber, and Chris Hayes. Hayes begins in primetime however performs like a benchwarmer.

Keep in thoughts, Maddow’s 9 pm hour attracts, on common, one million extra viewers than the community does at 8 and 10 pm, which means that viewers tune in for Maddow, not the channel typically. Should Maddow’s substitute draw numbers like Chris Hayes and Lawrence O’Donnell do in primetime, the community won’t have a program in the high 10 of cable information by fall of 2022.

Maddow’s departure from MSNBC’s day by day lineup will hit the community hardest the place it hurts: in the key demo. Maddow ranked eighth in the 25-54 demographic in Q3 of 2021. All In with Chris Hayes was MSNBC’s second-highest present in the class, at twenty second total.

No community is extra reliant on one expertise than MSNBC is on Rachel Maddow.

CNN

Then there’s CNN. Not to say this in a mockery tone, however there aren’t any optimistic takeaways from CNN third-quarter rankings. None.

CNN’s highest-rated present, Cuomo Prime Time, ranked twenty third in cable information for the quarter. Though CNN leads MSNBC in the key demo in whole day and primetime, that claims extra about MSNBC than CNN. To observe, Anderson Cooper 360 ranked fifteenth amongst adults 25-54, the highest of any CNN program.

I’ve written at size about why CNN’s rankings are declining. In sum:

CNN’s tank-job started the second Donald Trump left workplace. Like most traits in TV information, Trump is the rationalization for CNN’s fall. Trump made Fox News and MSNBC extra of what they already have been, however CNN reinvented itself throughout Trump’s presidency. CNN began over in 2016. Who is CNN proper now? Its hosts and executives haven’t informed us — they don’t know.

Furthermore, CNN doesn’t have a person star who attracts significantly extra viewers than the community’s base. CNN doesn’t have a Rachel Maddow, Tucker Carlson, or Sean Hannity. Instead, the faces of CNN — Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, and Don Lemon — are recognizable, although not difference-makers in the rankings. People know — which means they don’t like them.

So, can CNN rebound? They need assistance from the opposition, which means the Republicans. They want a goal, a villain, somebody they’ll persuade the nation is “an existential threat,” no matter which means. That might be Donald Trump once more or Ron DeSantis.

CNN tells its viewers that it’s a reasonable different to Fox News and MSNBC. “We don’t do opinion,” the creepy Don Lemon as soon as stated. See, conservatives know CNN is mendacity. Yet, we should now surprise if liberals consider CNN? Hear me out: why else would liberals know to eat CNN’s entitled, hypocritical, and offended commentary extra repeatedly? CNN is what the Left calls for, apart from Chris Cuomo, of course. Did CNN chase its liberal views away by telling them they don’t seem to be a left-leaning information community? Could the viewers be that gullible?

Hmm.

Fox News

After a rocky begin to the 12 months, Fox News has rebounded since Donald Trump left the White House. In the third quarter, FNC beat CNN and MSNBC mixed in each whole day and primetime viewership.

Interestingly, the present that Fox News airs at 5 pm ET, 2 pm PT stood out most this quarter.

Roger Ailes first launched The Five as a short lived substitute for Glenn Beck’s present in 2011. Now it’s one of Fox’s signature packages. Last September, I mentioned why The Five attracts primetime rankings in the afternoon. One 12 months later, The Five is the second-most-watched present in cable information behind solely Tucker Carlson.

The Five works as a result of it’s totally different. The relaxation of cable information is both just a few information anchors or a single opinionist with company talking right into a digital camera. While these two codecs are profitable, there’s demand for one thing else.

The Five is the cable information model of PTI. It’s a mix of information, banter, debate, and quirky humor. The Five can be the reply to Fox News’ future. The emergence of exterior voices in conservative media has given viewers a protracted listing of choices all through the day. Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Matt Walsh, Candace Owens, Michael Knowles, Allie Beth Stuckey, and Charlie Kirk are just some. Thus, Fox News should proceed to make new stars, and The Five is the finest automobile for that course of.

Finally, The Five has rotated personalities to exchange Juan Williams since he departed this summer season, and Jessica Tarlov has stood out specifically. Tarlov, “a defender of Democrats,” has good chemistry with the conservative hosts and matches effectively with the predominant solid.

Fox News heads into its twenty fifth anniversary subsequent week.

Greg Gutfeld

Greg Gutfeld, 57, has been round endlessly — or at the least a very long time. Some viewers bear in mind him from Red Eye. And although viewers have at all times acknowledged Gutfeld, he’s now one of the largest names in cable information.

In addition to The Five, Gutfeld’s eponymous late-night present now leads late-night in the rankings. Somehow, Gutfeld is thrashing these different guys who air on broadcast tv.

That stated, might Stephen Colbert and the others at the least attempt to present a good different? I imply, competitors is finest for all sides…