Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for CNN, the month of March saw its biggest decrease in primetime viewership ratings.
The network, which has been scrambling to rebrand itself from its previous hyper-partisan, anti-Trump propaganda machine, saw its viewership decline 61% compared to 27% and 12% of Fox News and MSNBC.
In March, CNN averaged just 473,000 primetime viewers.
Meanwhile, Fox News averaged 2.09 million viewers.
MSNBC averaged 1.14 million.
Tucker Carlson Tonight was blazing, breaking The Five’s 11-month streak as the most-watched cable news program.
AD Week reported:
The program averaged 3.25 million total viewers in the month of March at 8 p.m. The Five dropped to second, averaging 3.06 million viewers at 5 p.m. Jesse Watters Primetime (2.67 million), Hannity (2.505 million) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.20 million) rounding out the top five in total viewers. Tucker Carlson Tonight remained the top-rated cable news show in March among adults 25-54 (421,000).
For the second consecutive month, FNC had the top 15 cable news shows in the A25-54 demo. It had the top 10 cable news shows in average total viewers.
As the New York Post noted:
The drop in ratings is a bad omen for CNN, which has struggled to right the ship since parent company Warner Bros. Discovery tasked Chris Licht with the job of turning the news channel around more than a year ago.
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.
Meanwhile, CNN’s revamped daytime lineup failed to bare any fruit.
AP reported:
Licht’s biggest programming move to date, a revamp of “CNN This Morning,” hasn’t borne fruit in the ratings and has been beset by bad publicity, including co-host Don Lemon’s ham-fisted reference to a woman’s prime years.
Changes to CNN’s daytime look are imminent. Licht’s vision for prime time is months away, though, and only beginning to take shape.
His plans are to couple news coverage with hosts from different worlds, including entertainment, who can talk about the news without a specific partisan take. Licht is exploring several possibilities, and CNN is reportedly close to deals with CBS’ Gayle King and former NBA star turned sportscaster Charles Barkley for shows that will air once a week, although the network wouldn’t confirm that.
READ: CNN Becomes ‘Butt Of Jokes’ as Failing Network’s Ratings HIT ROCK BOTTOM
Why wouldn’t they “bare” any fruit? Fruit shouldn’t be clothed!