CNN faces more difficulties after it posted its “rock bottom” ratings in a key viewership demographic last weekend as Mark Thompson prepares to take over the troubled network.
CNN logged its worst weekend ratings on record in the highly coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic, Nielsen data reported on Tuesday.
The network, which launched in 1980, billing itself as “the most trusted name in the news,” totaled a meager 55,000 viewers for its weekend shows that include Sunday political programs “State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash” and “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”
The embattled network’s Sunday primetime lineup featuring “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper” and “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” drew 43,000 in the demographic.
CNN’s ratings are officially the worst since 1991, when TV data became readily available.
Before 1991, the data was largely not digitized.
However, the network’s overall viewership wasn’t much better.
CNN logged just 345,000 total viewers as it trailed behind Fox News’ 683,000 and MSNBC’s 424,000.
Fox came out on top in the battle for the key demographic, drawing 75,000 viewers to top MSNBC’s 47,000.
“CNN is a ratings embarrassment,” an industry insider said.
“At least with Thompson, they will have a direction,” the insider noted.
Thompson, the former New York Times Company CEO,
Thompson, the former New York Times Company CEO, was tapped as CNN’s new chairman and CEO last by parent Warner Bros. Discovery after Chris Licht’s disastrous stint at the network.
Licht was ousted last year after The Atlantic gave him a scathing profile, describing the CEO as a paranoid manager obsessed with his ousted predecessor, Jeff Zucker.
During Licht’s short 13 months at the network, he was tasked with shifting the network toward more centrist coverage.
However, Licht’s strategy appeared to have failed badly.
His overhaul included the ill-fated shakeup of the network’s morning show, which brought in Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins.
But Lemon was fired in April after a series of gaffes, including a claim that GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was “not in her prime.”
Collins was moved to host a weekday primetime show, but that also failed.
Thompson will now take the helm at CNN beginning Oct. 9.
For more perspective on how CNN has dropped well below the ranks of a reputable network, hosts of the network laughed and joked about the discovery of cocaine in the White House.
The CNN hosts dismissed the discovery of cocaine at the White House, arguing no one was hurt and laughing it off.
CNN failed to question law enforcement officials and ask if anyone should be prosecuted. Instead, they made it out to be a laughing matter.
In August, CNN was slapped with a “community note” on X after the network published a slanted report about two Ugandan men charged with “aggravated homosexuality.”
CNN’s post said, “Two men in Uganda are facing separate charges of ‘aggravated homosexuality,’ an offense punishable by death under the country’s controversial new anti-gay laws.”
The CNN headline provided even less information on the story: “Two Ugandan men may face death penalty after ‘aggravated homosexuality’ charge.”
However, the moderators of X’s community notes agreed CNN had left out some key information on this story.
It’s just more evidence of how far the network has fallen.
READ: CNN: It’s “Depressing” that Republicans Are “Questioning” FBI
