CNN’s prime-time lineup of talk shows finished fourth in the ratings on Friday, May 12, swamped by Fox News and MSNBC, and edged out by the rarely-watched Newsmax network.
The ratings fall came two days after the CNN Town Hall with Donald Trump, which attracted more than 3 million viewers and gave the network a rare win in primetime.
But last Friday, CNN’s viewership dropped to an anemic 335,000 below that of Newsmax, which garnered 357,000 prime-time viewers. Naturally, the media is blaming the Trump Town Hall that aired on CNN two days earlier for the decline. But is that true?
Not even close.
CNN regained its lead on Newsmax in the key cable news demographic among adults 25-54, however, with CNN bringing in 87,000 viewers in the demo while Newsmax drew in 45,000 viewers in the demo. CNN was just shy of MSNBC’s demo viewership of 98,000 while Fox News swept the cable news channels with 109,000 viewers in the demo on average.
The trend continued through the cable news channel’s hourly programming, with Newsmax scoring higher total viewership for each hour than CNN, though CNN beat Newsmax in the demo for each timeslot. The widest hourly gap was at 9 p.m., when CNN’s “The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper” brought in 293,000 total viewers while Newsmax’s “Chris Plante The Right Squad,” drew in 325,000. Conversely, in the same 9 p.m. timeslot, CNN scored 85,000 viewers in the demo while Newsmax brought in 35,000 viewers in the demo.
Backlash to the townhall began even as it aired, as critics noted how with very few exceptions, moderator (and former Tucker Carlson employee) Kaitlan Collins allowed Trump to lie, repeatedly, speak vile falsehoods about abortion, and even defame E. Jean Carroll literally a day after she successfully sued him for sexual assault and, yes, defamation.
Is this true? Could there be a “backlash” to Trump’s appearance?
In March, CNN’s viewership plunged 61%. There was no Donald Trump Town Hall that month. The network averaged 473,000 in prime time for the month and saw a 27% decline for the entire first quarter.
Fox News averaged 2.09 million viewers in prime time in March, with MSNBC at 1.14 million and CNN at 473,000, according to Nielsen figures cited by the Associated Press.
In the key 25-54 age demographic for advertisers, CNN is seeing some of its lowest numbers in decades.
The poor ratings have also plagued other parts of CNN’s broadcasting schedule.
“CNN This Morning,” the morning show that features co-hosts Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins, and Poppy Harlow, averaged just 359,000 total viewers in the last quarter, according to figures cited by Mediaite.
The idea that CNN is losing viewers as a result of Donald Trump’s Town Hall is fake news. CNN has been losing viewers since after the 2020 election, and the biggest drop came in 2021 when the network lost 70% of its viewers.
Related: AOC & the Left Lose Their Minds Over Trump’s CNN Town Hall
News outlets trying to connect Trump’s Town Hall to CNN’s decline are lying. CNN didn’t need Trump’s lies, insults, and name-calling to contribute to their audience dropping like a stone. CNN was able to do that all by themselves without any help from Trump or anyone else.
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