Struggling cable news network CNN took an absolute beating this past Friday night, according to the latest figures from the viewer aggregate reporter Mediate. While low ratings have long plagued the primetime lineup, resulting in the firing of Brian Stelter and the demotion of Don Lemon, now even long-time personality Anderson Cooper isn’t immune to the ravaged reputation of the Trump-dubbed “fake news” network.
In the latest report, Cooper was shellacked multiple times over by every single Fox News program, with Tucker Carlson attracting 3.29 million total viewers and others like Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, Brett Baier, and Laura Ingraham securing 2.58, 2.63, 2.28, and 1.93 viewers, respectively.
For comparison, Anderson Cooper eeked out a paltry 535,000 viewers. In other words, Fox hosts outgained him by at least four to one. “Yikes” isn’t a strong enough word.
CNN hit its lowest ratings in February since 2012 & February was the third lowest rated month this century. Yikes. Good read from @burackbobby_ on the mess there: https://t.co/HFkvMXaBZI
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 3, 2023
The Outkick article provided further embarrassment for the embattled network, as it isn’t just Cooper still reeling from low audience numbers. To be sure, CNN as a whole is drowning. Outkick wrote:
Last month, the network drew a historically small audience among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults ages 25-54.
CNN saw its lowest-rated month in the category since May 2012. Barack Obama was serving his first term at that time.
February culminated with CNN’s third lowest-rated month since the beginning of 2001. George W. Bush was serving his first term at that time.
Hosts Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, and Wolf Blitzer each recorded their lowest months since 2014.
There are a lot of reasons for their failure, the most obvious its rank partisan, and therefore necessarily dishonest coverage, coupled with extremely unlikeable personalities. Of course, a lot of attention has rightfully been paid to Don Lemon, who was inexplicably saved from a pink slip when he got demoted rather than fired last fall.
Since then, his tenure has been rocked by his inability to manage his ego, and he continues to step into problems with his two younger female hosts. In December, we recently learned, Lemon made his co-hosts run off set crying for berating one of them for interruptions on air.
Afterward, Lemon was suspended for a day from the show and sent to sensitivity training.
“I sat down with Don and had a frank and meaningful conversation. He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continue to listen and learn. We take this situation very seriously. It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes. To that end, Don will return to CNN This Morning on Wednesday,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said at the time.
More recently, Lemon has criticized Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley – and by extension, all women – on a separate show when he suggested “mandatory mental competency tests” for politicians who are 75 years or older, going so far as to say that Haley was no longer in her “prime.”
“Lemon referenced “Google” to support his contention that Haley, who is 51 years old, will face a difficult challenge in winning the presidency, as women are only considered to be in their prime during their ‘20s, 30s, and 40s,’” Conservative Brief wrote.
“I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime, it says the 20s, 30s, and 40s,” Lemon said on air. “And I’m just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. Because she wouldn’t be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.”
Lemon later walked back those comments on Twitter: “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”
Nikki Haley also weighed in with an appropriately hilarious reply: “To be clear, I am NOT calling for competency tests for sexist middle-aged CNN anchors; only for people who make our laws and are 75+.”
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