CNN’s addition of Bill Maher segment fails to provide ratings bump

When CNN added comedian Bill Maher to its Friday night lineup in February, the news channel hoped it would boost its ratings. However, the latest ratings show that CNN has lost nearly 50% of its viewers during the 15-minute time slot, according to Nielsen Research Data. Furthermore, they lost 58% in the key advertiser-targeted 25-54 demographic during that same time frame.

Ratings for Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime on CNN averaged only 368,000 total viewers and 74,000 in the key demographic from February to early March. CNN has been airing segments of Maher’s Overtime show on CNN Tonight on Fridays at 11:30 p.m. starting in February. HBO and CNN have the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

CNN has struggled to rework its late-night and prime-time lineup since it fired the 9 p.m. host Chris Cuomo at the end of 2021 and moved Don Lemon from 10 p.m. to mornings. The network reportedly floated adding “news entertainment” personalities to fill out the evening lineup, and Maher seemed like a natural fit. However, this move has been met with criticism, with The Daily Beast questioning why CNN was “platforming” a “notorious anti-vaxxer.”

Meanwhile, Gutfeld! hosted by conservative Greg Gutfeld on Fox News Channel has exploded in popularity, averaging 1.9 million viewers during the same time period. Nielsen ratings have frequently shown Gutfeld’s show scoring a larger audience than Jimmy Fallon on NBC, Jimmy Kimmel on ABC, and Stephen Colbert on CBS. Fox News bought a Super Bowl commercial this year, touting Gutfeld’s rating success.