The ratings hemorrhage by CNN and MSNBC is real and dramatic. Fox News also suffered a post-election drop because of its betrayal of the President, but has achieved some measure of stability. That said, Fox is way below where it was last August. Let me give you the numbers.
First with Fox. August thru November 3 was the highwater mark for Fox News programs from 4pm on. Fox’s current numbers show a dramatic drop when you compare the numbers for March 25, 2021 with those for August 23, 2020. Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have suffered the largest loss–Hannity has shed 4,185,000 viewers while Laura’s losses approach five million. Even Tucker Carlson is down 40% compared to his August 2020 numbers.
| FNC Total Viewers (Live+SD x 1,000) | ||
| 23-Aug | 25-Mar | Net Loss |
| Cavuto: | Cavuto: | |
| 2192 | 1089 | 1103 |
| Five: | Five: | |
| 3772 | 2687 | 1085 |
| Baier: | Baier: | |
| 3256 | 1934 | 1322 |
| MacCallum: | Primetime: | |
| 3201 | 1673 | 1528 |
| Carlson: | Carlson: | |
| 5719 | 3138 | 2581 |
| Hannity: | Hannity: | |
| 6838 | 2653 | 4185 |
| Dmcy2020: | Ingraham: | |
| 7063 | 2128 | 4935 |
| Ingraham: | Bream: | |
| 4820 | 1131 | 3689 |
While Fox is struggling compared to last year, it is outpacing CNN and MSNBC. They were competitive with Fox in November 2020 and, in some cases (such as Rachel Maddow) they were walloping Fox. Those days are done.
| CNN Total Viewers (Live+SD x 1,000) | ||
| 24-Nov | 25-Mar | Net Loss |
| Tapper: | Tapper: | |
| 2099 | 1011 | 1088 |
| Blitzer: | SitRoom: | |
| 2328 | 961 | 1367 |
| Blitzer: | SitRoom: | |
| 2241 | 768 | 1473 |
| Burnett: | Burnett: | |
| 2330 | 961 | 1369 |
| AC360: | Cooper: | |
| 2214 | 1015 | 1199 |
| Cuomo: | Cooper: | |
| 2252 | 890 | 1362 |
| Lemon: | Lemon: | |
| 1796 | 996 | 800 |
| Tonight: | Lemon: | |
| 1206 | 631 | 575 |
MSNBC’s numbers are almost as bad as CNN’s, but there are two exceptions–Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell. Maddow is besting Hannity on most nights while Lawrence O’Donnell is competitive with Laura Ingraham.
| MSNBC Total Viewers (Live+SD x 1,000) | ||
| 24-Nov | 25-Mar | Net Loss |
| Wallace: | Deadline: | |
| 2475 | 1332 | 1143 |
| Wallace: | Deadline: | |
| —- | —- | |
| Melber: | Melber: | |
| 2439 | 1440 | 999 |
| Reid: | Reid: | |
| 2597 | 1454 | 1143 |
| Hayes: | Hayes: | |
| 2360 | 1667 | 693 |
| Maddow: | Maddow: | |
| 3465 | 3089 | 376 |
| O’Donnell: | O’Donnell: | |
| 2626 | 2051 | 575 |
| Williams: | Williams: | |
| 2378 | 1432 | 946 |
When you compare August 2020 to March 2021 for total viewers in the 8 pm and 9pm timeslots you will see how big a decline Cable News has suffered–8pm has 4,055,000 fewer viewers and 9pm dropped by 4,162,000.
I do not believe this drop is going to change significantly in the future. I am sure that CNN and MSNBC will get a daytime boost out of the George Floyd hearings, but the evening with Donald Trump to bash leaves CNN and MSNBC scrambling to find their raison d’etre.
Legacy media does not need Trump. It has biden, who is sending $10billion to his friends in the left-wing media to “encourage skeptical people to get their flu shot.” Now if he really wanted to get to skeptical people, this $$ would be spent on Newsmax, Breitbart, etc.. The dinosaur media’s audience is already fighting over who will get the shot first. This is a PPP for his dedicated supporters in the propaganda ministry and nothing more.
If the only reason you are on the air is to bash one person (Trump), maybe you shouldn’t be on the air!
Reminds me of one of tricky dicky’s parting comments – ‘you won’t have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore’ – or something like that anyway. And that was long before the rise of 24/7 ‘news’ cycles. Agreed, if all an entity has is their hatred for a particular person, they have issues. Remember how bad they looked with Bush Derangement Syndrome, that was nothing compared to TDS.
BTW – I always thought it was ‘sway vee and deboner’ – my bad 😉
I’d extend that to say that if the only reason you’re on the air is to bash a political viewpoint, then you’re not a News Outlet, you’re nothing but a Propaganda Outlet.
Fuck Biden and the uneducated brainwashed liberal democrat idiot sheep
Phuk Biden and the brainwashed liberal uneducated democrat sheep
CNN and MSNBC have become a real joke. Because they never were newsworthy they’ve always needed a foil. Since “the Donald” hasn’t been there anymore, they’ve fallen flat on their faces. Pathetic news sources.
It is not just cable news that needs Trump, AMERICA NEEDS HIM!
It brought the viewers in just to see the drama.