CNN’s multi-year plummet continues as ratings can’t top Food Network

CNN’s descent into irrelevancy continued in the latest rating period, despite frantic attempts by the pioneering cable news network for a turnaround.

During a crowded news cycle, CNN ratings couldn’t beat a variety of niche and specialized networks, including TNT, Food Network, Freeform, Discovery, INSP, Hallmark Mystery, TLC, TBS, History, HGTV, USA, MSNBC, Paramount, Hallmark Channel and ESPN, according to Fox News.

In the prime demographic valued by advertisers, viewers ages 25-54, CNN averaged just 67,000 viewers, being outwatched by TV Land, MTV, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central and Adult Swim, reported Fox.

By comparison, Hawaii’s biggest newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, has more paid circulation than CNN has average viewers.

The decline of CNN has been boosted by social media and alternative media, which has allowed people to reach over the heads of traditional media and speak directly to audiences, as demonstrated by the latest general election cycle.  

“Throughout the campaign, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris shunned the mainstream media to some degree,” reported Newsweek. “Harris became the first presidential candidate to snub Time magazine, while Trump often opted for podcasters and social media to highlight his campaign.” 

CNN’s ratings plunge, however, has been a multiyear process that started after the network peaked in 2016 with a line-up of Chris Cuomo, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper. 

While the line-up delivered ratings, it also contained seeds that would later bear a bitter harvest for the cable giant. 

Cuomo was canned by the network in 2021 after scandals involving his COVID-19 reporting and conflicts of interest with his brother, Andrew Cuomo, who was then governor of New York. 

In February 2022, CNN’s then-president Jeff Zucker quit under pressure as ratings sagged and it was revealed he had an undisclosed romantic relationship with a CNN employee, further damaging the network’s credibility.  

Lemon was let go in 2023, as viewers – and finally advertisers – lost their taste for his focus on race and identity politics. 

To stem the freefall, CNN turned to Chris Licht as CEO, who tried to broaden the network’s appeal by firing left-aligned personalities such as Lemon, Brian Stelter, John Harwood and Jeffrey Toobin. He also cut costs by laying off 300 workers, The Week reported.   

But Licht’s move to the center was short lived.   

Polls of CNN in 2023 revealed only 39% of Americans thought CNN was a trustworthy source of news. 

Those numbers were down from 2022 when 53% of Americans felt CNN was a credible or somewhat credible news source. 

Licht was let go in October 2023 and CNN appointed BBC and New York Times veteran Mark Thompson to the network’s top slot, where he has continued to slash jobs.  

Thompson helped the liberal New York Times move from a traditional circulation model into a successful digital subscription-based model with a wide variety of digital selections, such as Wordle, which go beyond editorial content.  

But no matter what happens, or who does it, it’s clear the model CNN used in the past to generate revenue no longer works.  

The anti-conservative bias shared by mainstream media just doesn’t sell like it used to, according to one CNN host.  

Michael Smerconish told Mediate “the constant browbeating [of voters], the combination of the media influence and the four indictments and one conviction [against Trump]” created “the potential for a boomerang effect” that would boost Trump in the election.  

“And I think that came true. I really do,” said Smerconish.  

CNN isn’t the only liberal news outlet hurting either. 

The New York Times reports MSNBC viewership was down 53% versus Fox News, which gained 21%. 

But beyond the question of liberal bias, the model for both revenue and viewership is rapidly changing. 

Traditional cable networks like CNN rely on carriage fees for most of their revenue. Those fees are drying up as more Americans turn to streaming services, reports the Los Angeles Times. 

As viewers migrate to subscription streaming, the old-fashioned network will continue to lose viewers and shed employees.  

“I am worried because the industry is obviously in trouble… I’m sure there will be cuts,” a CNN staffer told Fox News.