Cratering News Network.



CNN is suffering a credibility crisis as viewership for the once-proud network continues to crater with a no apparent plan in place to fix things anytime soon, according to media watchdogs and insiders.

CNN’s audience shriveled in the second quarter of 2019, averaging only 541,000 total viewers while being more than doubled by Fox News Channel’s 1.3 million average in the process. But CNN struggled even more during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, finishing as the fifteenth most-watched network on basic cable behind networks such as TLC, Investigation Discovery and the Hallmark Channel. CNN averaged a dismal 761,000 primetime viewers while FNC averaged 2.4 million.

The Hill media guru Joe Concha told Fox News that CNN's freefall may not be slowing.

“The numbers warrant concern, yes. Q2 was a particularly news-rich quarter highlighted by the release of the Mueller report and all the aftermath and controversy following it, plus the launch of several high-profile Democratic candidacies including Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg to propel 2020 coverage into high gear,” Concha said. “It may only get worse in Q3 given the numbers we’re already seeing.”

CNN did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

CNN started off the third quarter with “the network’s lowest average since 2015” when it comes to primetime viewers among the key demographic of adults age 25-54, according to TVNewser. But the network has extended various contributors through the election, indicating that its apparent anti-Trump programming strategy will remain in place for at least the duration of the president’s first term.

“You know the answer,” a longtime CNN employee said when asked if staffers are panicked about the ratings decay before declining further comment.

Another current CNN employee told Fox News that there is widespread concern about the network’s ratings problem, but high-profile hosts such as Anderson Cooper remain unfazed.

“The people that are concerned – it’s certainly not the anchors who have lucrative contracts – it’s the people among the lower levels, such as producers and show bookers,” the employee said.

A third current staffer told Fox News that CNN “is clearly doing something wrong if the ratings are like this,” before asking, “So why don’t we try something different?”

Cable news viewership has declined in general as more and more consumers cut the cord in favor of OTT streaming services, but CNN’s losses are overwhelming. The network lost 18 percent of its audience compared to the second quarter of last year. CNN also dropped a whopping 38 percent of primetime viewers among the key demo.

“Losing nearly 40 percent of an already-third place audience must be a primary topic in internal meetings, with immediate remedies not readily apparent,” Concha said.

CNN’s most popular show averaged only 910,000 viewers. Fourteen Fox News programs and 10 MSNBC programs attracted larger audiences.

Reporter-turned-banker Porter Bibb is surprised parent company AT&T hasn't made any changes. "My guess is that senior management is more concerned about the launch of HBO Max than CNN, at least for the moment," he said.

Sagging ratings weren’t the only negative headlines generated by CNN during the second quarter, as the network reduced headcount days after publically declaring there wouldn’t be mass layoffs.

A CNN spokesperson told Fox News on May 7 that reports of looming layoffs were a “crazy rumor,” but staffers were shocked when members of the network’s Atlanta-based staff that covered health care were shown the door only two weeks later.

CNN also saw over 100 employees accept a voluntary buyout option, losing bureau chiefs and award winners in the process while the network moved into elaborate new New York City digs.

CNN began broadcasting in May from the network’s ritzy new facility in the Hudson Yards area on the West Side of Manhattan. The brand-new, state-of-the-art headquarters is part of a luxurious complex that also features condominiums which start at $4.3 million, high-end restaurants and stores such as Cartier, Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus.

The second quarter also saw the release of the White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s anti-Trump book. Before its June release, one current CNN employee told Fox News that CNN’s Acosta might not be the right person to cover Trump’s White House these days.

“Jim Acosta is, a lot of times, asking the right questions but it doesn’t always need to be about him and his grandstanding,” the CNN staffer said. “People get tired of it. Acosta is supposed to be a correspondent reporting the facts but you can’t tell the difference between him and a paid pundit.”

MSNBC’s recent Democratic presidential primary debate attracted a large audience, and CNN is set to host its own version later this month. The event would typically be a reason for optimism, but CNN announced on Monday that opinion host Don Lemon would a moderator, raising eyebrows in the process as respected journalists such as Erin Burnett and Poppy Harlow remain on the sideline.

Debate moderators are historically straight-news journalists, as opposed to partisan pundits, but CNN’s decision mirrors NBC’s strategy to allow Rachel Maddow to moderate last month’s Democratic Debate. CNN has continued to label Lemon an “anchor” despite him spouting anti-Trump opinions on a regular basis.

Conservative strategist Chris Barron told Fox News that CNN’s decision is “a disservice to voters all across the political spectrum” because Lemon – whose beleaguered primetime show has contributed to the network's ratings crisis -- is so open about his own views.

DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall recently told Fox News that Lemon is no longer a news anchor in the traditional sense because of his partisan rhetoric.

“He is a host of an opinion-driven show in which his opinions are front and center. Thus, he is a host rather than a news anchor,” McCall said. “His show does discuss news topics, but it is not designed as an objective news show.”

In recent memory, Lemon has compared Trump to Adolf Hitler, then claimed he “didn’t mean” to compare the president and Hitler. He has also called Trump a “racist,” a “fraud,” “con man,” questioned whether or not the State of the Union should air on a delay to avoid “propaganda," declared that he wouldn’t shake the president’s hand and questioned Trump’s mental fitness.

“To pretend he’s not an opinion host is lunacy,” a CNN employee told Fox News.

Lemon has also suggested Trump doesn’t do enough work, speculated on whether or not the president lies about his weight, tied Trump to the college admissions cheating scheme and took a shot at Trump as he was giving his colleague Chris Cuomo a brief tour of his new studio, suggesting that the president can't afford such a lavish space since he isn't a "real billionaire."

One certainty is that Lemon wasn’t selected to lift the debate’s viewership totals. Lemon’s “CNN Tonight” finished the second quarter of 2019 as the 35th most-watched show on cable news.



https://www.foxnews.com/entert...nn-ratings-don-lemon

Hey I know! Y'all might want to consider quit telling lies.

They should change their name to TBN (Trump Bashing Network). Their hatred for Trump is such that they don't care about losing viewers (money). Sad.

quote:

The Hill media guru Joe Concha told Fox News that CNN's freefall may not be slowing.

I hear Tom Petty in my head, and its a sweet song:

Oh (Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm)
Free fallin' (Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm)
Now I'm free (Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm)
Oh, free fallin' (Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm)
(Free fallin', now I'm free fallin', now I'm) Free fallin'

Bashing is okay. But it needs to be done with integrity, sincerity and w/out pushing an agenda. If someone does something wrong though, bash away. But it's ridiculous to try to find fault in everything a person does. That's basically psychopathic obsession.

The problem is that CNN bashes without all the things news should be - factual, comprehensive, sincere, truthful (not half truths or partial truths which lead to misleading inferences), etc.

CNN is dishonest, hysterical, sensationalist, biased/agenda driven to the extreme, misleading, patronizing, condescending, etc. IOW, everything normal/reasonable people should hate in a person. CNN gets no respect because they don't deserve any.

And yet CNN doubles down on their idiocy on a daily basis, CONVINCED they are right. What idiots...JSMH.

quote:

A third current staffer told Fox News that CNN “is clearly doing something wrong if the ratings are like this,” before asking, “So why don’t we try something different?

I’d recommend not lying and constantly shilling for the demorats against Trump, but I’m afraid they might listen. I’m content to watch them trailing smoke in a steep dive from high altitude.

This is what you get when you go full-tilt anti-Trump LIBTARD!

I have zero sympathy.

FUCK EM!

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
And yet CNN doubles down on their idiocy on a daily basis, CONVINCED they are right. What idiots...JSMH.

No chances they're "convinced" they are right. They know they lie, but they don't care. When your network is led by a true Trump hater Zucker who gives his people marching orders everyday to make Trump look bad no matter what, you are fucked. What surprises me is that CNN's parent company just let things slide. When you're in business, you want to make money, not lose it.

quote:

"... with immediate remedies not readily apparent."

The remedy--there is only one--would be readily apparent if the PTB at CNN didn't have their collective head buried firmly in a place the sun don't shine.

quote:

When you're in business, you want to make money, not lose it.

Not to these ultra leftists, they actually are willing to lose money to advance the agenda. That's what makes them dangerous.

They should hire that female soccer captain from the US Team to help them with ratings

So at the current rate of decline, CNN, if they make no changes, will put themselves out of business within a year or so. Usually once broke a company can be purchased, but CNN as we know it may be business by sometime in 2021.

I will not lose any sleep over this.

I am more than happy to see them in a death spiral

They have not been a news outlet in almost 2 decades - and its just catching up to them now

I hope the network folds and all these pontificating buffoons find themselves standing in the unemployment line

they're all worthless people and I don't think that even if they started telling the truth tomorrow anyone would believe them - they've been liars for so long

CNN is not going to collapse. CNN is a propaganda machine. I don't mean that in a derogatory way; I mean it literally. As such, making a profit would just be gravy but it isn't required. It will be funded regardless.

When the time comes that CNN loses its effectiveness, it will be bought, merged, reinvented etc under a new name and continue on the exact same mission it's on now.

They're not stupid, they're not doubling down, they're not out of touch, they're doing exactly what they intend.

The fact that most people can't seem to grasp this demonstrates how successful and effective they actually are.

RIP

Finally, good news!

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
And yet CNN doubles down on their idiocy on a daily basis, CONVINCED they are right. What idiots...JSMH.

No chances they're "convinced" they are right. They know they lie, but they don't care. When your network is led by a true Trump hater Zucker who gives his people marching orders everyday to make Trump look bad no matter what, you are fucked. What surprises me is that CNN's parent company just let things slide. When you're in business, you want to make money, not lose it.

That's the thing, that confuses me. The hosts, editors, and ownership knows they are peddeling snake oil. It's proven ineffective at both getting ratings and removing Trump from office. Why do they continue down this path, they can't really be willing to destroy 10's or 100's of millions of market cap, just to unfruitfully remove the president.

What gives? Really willing to hack off their nose to spite their face? Just doesn't make sense to me.

when you recognize that its being run by the mentally ill and its target audience have IQ's in the middle double digits, its easy to lie to people that are essentially illiterate

thats their target audience

Clearly the answer for CNN is to move farther left. The move from center left to left/progressive didn't get the job done.

I think going full commie/anarchist is the answer. Their motto could be; "We are more Communist than Bernie".