Trump Triumph Complete: CNN Ratings Drop 94% After Declaring War on Incoming President
The article discusses the significant decline in viewership for CNN since Donald Trump’s election campaign in 2016, noting a staggering drop of approximately 94% in their prime-time audience. It highlights that CNN, once the leader in cable news viewership with 13.3 million viewers, now struggles to attract around 800,000 viewers. This downturn has led to recent reports of planned layoffs at the network, including on-air talent. Additionally, the article mentions the competitive landscape of cable news, noting that MSNBC has overtaken CNN in viewership, while Fox News continues to lead.
Despite criticism of CNN’s anti-Trump bias, the article acknowledges some hosts, like Erin Burnett and Scott Jennings, for occasionally exhibiting fairness in their reporting. However, it expresses concern that liberal viewers who have shifted to MSNBC prefer a more extreme narrative, leaving CNN’s attempts at balanced journalism appearing less appealing. while CNN has suffered significant losses and faces difficult decisions under new leadership, the article encourages a cautious optimism regarding potential paths forward for the network amidst its struggles.
If you examine cable news viewership trends closely enough, you will find reasons for both satisfaction and discouragement.
Nonetheless, satisfaction prevails when one contemplates the totality of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over his establishment antagonists at CNN.
To quantify that victory, consider that since the network began its ill-fated crusade against Trump in 2016, the former kings and queens of prime-time cable news at CNN have hemorrhaged 94 percent of their viewing audience, per the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
In 2016, CNN ranked as the most-watched cable news network, with an average of 13.3 million prime-time viewers.
Remarkably, that number now stands at only around 800,000 — a decline of 93.99 percent.
CNN’s 2024 election night ratings highlighted the decline.
On Nov. 5, the network drew only 5.1 million viewers compared to 6 million for establishment rival MSNBC. Prime-time titan Fox News ranked first with 10.3 million viewers.
Thus, it came as no surprise last week when a report surfaced that CNN plans massive layoffs, including on-air talent.
CNN, of course, continues to employ notorious Trump-haters such as Jim Acosta and Jake Tapper. Reliable establishment shills Anderson Cooper, Dana Bash and Kaitlan Collins also call the network home.
At $20 million per year, Cooper’s salary dwarfs that of the younger Collins, who rakes in only $3 million.
Thus, new CEO Mark Thompson has some difficult choices to make.
In short, does the network continue its costly and fruitless war against Trump? Or, does it choose the prudent course by promoting some of its more appealing voices?
And that brings us to the aforementioned reasons for discouragement.
As awful as CNN has been since 2016, it is not irredeemable at the moment — at least not by comparison.
Host Erin Burnett, for instance, has shown signs of genuine fairness at times.
Meanwhile, token conservative commentator Scott Jennings has emerged as a rising star at CNN.
So why the discouragement? Well, if liberal viewers have shifted from CNN to MSNBC, it means that they want what MSNBC offers. And we know what that is.
Whereas CNN tempers its anti-Trump bias with occasional nods to real journalism, MSNBC makes no such pretenses.
On CNN, liberals might hear a different viewpoint from the likes of Jennings or even Burnett.
By contrast, MSNBC offers only howling banshees like unrepentant racist Joy Reid and pathological liar Rachel Maddow.
In other words, if viewership numbers tell the story, then liberal viewers prefer the banshees. And that does not bode well for truth and reconciliation.
Nonetheless, we still have cause to celebrate — and marvel at — Trump’s total victory over his CNN antagonists.
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