A year after CNN ousted former CEO Jeff Zucker for an affair with another CNN employee, things have only gone from bad to worse for the network that committed ritual suicide by destroying its credibility as a source of unbiased news during the Trump presidency.
Though the new CEO, Chris Licht, brought numerous changes to CNN when he became CE, the listing network has begun to sink, as Fox News Digital reported recently in an article about “layoff, infighting, ratings woes” at CNN. Giving some examples of the changes Licht brought to the network, Fox News said:
In the early months of Licht’s tenure at CNN, there was wild speculation as to who would be let go so that the liberal network could turn over a new leaf.
Most notably was the ousting of media correspondent Brian Stelter and the cancelation of “Reliable Sources.” While Stelter’s ratings tanked over the years, he continued offering full-throated defenses for the legacy press and spent much of his time attacking former President Trump and conservative media. Stelter’s fans speculated that he was Licht’s “sacrificial lamb” to help shed CNN’s reputation as a far-left network.
Also shown the door was CNN’s longtime chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who Zucker allowed back even after his Zoom masturbation scandal from 2020, and CNN White House correspondent John Harwood, who barely troubled to hide his left-leaning political preferences.
In addition to those firings, Don Lemon was demoted, Chris Wallace was moved from CNN+ to CNN, CNN+ was cancelled after only a month because it was such a money sink…and people still aren’t watching the network.
As a side note, a humiliated Lemon insisted he wasn’t demoted, saying:
“I was presented with an opportunity that I just can’t pass up, at this network, and we have a new boss who is a morning show [expert]. And he wants a morning show that will kick off the editorial direction of the network, every single day, and I am honored that he asked me to do it.
“He asked me and I said yes. I could have said no. This is my show, I have a contract for this show, I decided I would take him up on that and take this journey with him. This is not someone moving me. I was not demoted. None of that. This is an opportunity. This is a promotion.”
But he was moved from his own prime time show to a morning show with co-hosts…so he was demoted, whatever his fragile ego forces him to say.
In any case, all of those massive changes to the network, things only took a turn for the worse at CNN, as Fox News also reported, saying:
CNN had a dismal 2022 from a viewership perspective, hitting all-time lows in various categories despite a busy year that saw everything from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to crucial midterm elections.
The network’s most-watched program was “Anderson Cooper 360,” which managed only 868,000 average nightly viewers to finish No. 23 among cable news offerings. During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, Fox News averaged 2.3 million viewers compared to 1.2 million for MSNBC and only 722,000 for CNN.
Among total day audience, Fox News averaged 1.5 million total day viewers, an 11% increase compared to 2021 while CNN settled for only 565,000 average viewers to lose 27% of the previous year’s viewership.
An example of that ratings failure and how it is coming worse come from Chris Wallace, whose show has done terribly recently, as we just reported, saying:
according to new Nielsen data, Chris Wallace’s new show brought in just 365,000 viewers on average in January, with only 48,000 of them being in the 25-54 age bracket coveted by advertisers. He did even worse than that in the last week of January, bringing in just 323,000 average viewers and 38,000 in the advertising demographic.
So, CNN can try all it wants to recover from the Zucker era…but, try as it might, it looks like things are only getting worse for Trump’s favorite punching bag. Trump for his part, mocked CNN’s failures in a recent video, saying:
After many years CNN is closing their Atlanta headquarters. It’s very simple, no ratings equal, no money. They got no money because they have no ratings. That’s what fake news gets you people are wise to it. Likewise, speaking of fake news, MSDNC sometimes referred to as MSNBC isn’t very big rating struggle. And be careful Fox News don’t go that way. They’ve got failed politician Paul Ryan and Rhino. Karl Rove a total loser running things. Please be careful Fox News.
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
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