If you’re at CNN, you should be rooting for Donald Trump to win the presidential election, otherwise you may be out of a job before long.
The liberal network’s struggle in the post-Trump era hasn’t exactly been a secret. Almost immediately after Biden's inauguration, the network saw its ratings dive. Many network news channels saw declines, but left-leaning networks like CNN and MSNBC experienced the bulk of the decline.
And even then, it was understood why.
"While it’s too early to conclude any longer-term direction for news ratings after just one week, the downturn could be interpreted as an indicator of what many industry observers had anticipated,” wrote Variety back in February 2021. "With Biden in the White House, networks that have spent the last four years railing consistently against Trump have lost the main attraction that energized their audience bases, making it difficult to hold onto the elevated viewing levels."
Things have only gotten worse for CNN, which has been plagued by scandal; the loss of key “talent” at the network; the embarrassing launch and implosion of its subscription-based streaming service, CNN+; and the revolving door of CEOs since the scandalous resignation of Jeff Zucker.
It sure looks like CNN is in the process of a prolonged death spiral, and Mark Thompson, the new head of the network, is struggling to turn things around. In fact, this month CNN experienced its lowest-rated week in primetime viewership among a key demographic since 1991.
According to a report from the New York Post, CNN got a mere 83,000 viewers in the 25 - 54-year-old demographic from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the week of May 13 to 19. Overall viewership for the week was 494,000, while Fox News and MSNBC saw significantly higher numbers with 2 million and 1.1 million viewers, respectively.
“Thompson better get his act together before he completely destroys CNN,” a top TV news producer told the paper. “It seems like he’s thrown in the towel regarding cable.”
CNN’s three-hour primetime block during the week features the network’s highest paid anchor, Anderson’s Cooper, with his show “AC360” at 8 p.m., along with “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” at 9 p.m. and “CNN NewsNight” with Abby Phillip at 10 p.m.
Its total viewership for the week was also paltry with 494,000, compared with 2 million for Fox News — which shares common ownership with News Corp, the publisher of The Post. MSNBC pulled in 1.1 million, according to Nielsen.
“CNN’s new name is Cancelled Network Now,” a media insider quipped.
“Young people are as interested in Anderson Cooper as they are in Liza Minnelli.”
A CNN spokesperson insisted to the Post that the network’s primetime ratings are growing year over year among viewers aged 25-54, with "Erin Burnett Outfront" at 7 p.m. to the rebroadcast of "Anderson Cooper 360" at midnight showing double-digit year-over-year growth in total viewers.
ButThompson, who was hired by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav after Chris Licht’s failed 13-month tenure, is under pressure to improve the ratings and modernize the network. While he has kept the struggling primetime lineup unchanged, he has revamped the problematic morning schedule.
One media insider quipped, “I know it’s cliché to say, but Thompson is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. He has no new ideas yet. But maybe his old media playbook will work.”
In the end, it’s obvious to me that CNN needs Donald Trump back in the White House. The writing has been on the wall for nearly four years now that without Donald Trump in the White House, the liberal network has a difficult time justifying its existence.
