CNN appears willing to embrace the embarrassment of being the least watched news network as it suffers yet another massive ratings loss.
According to data released by AdWeek, CNN fell to a distant tenth away from competitors Fox News and MSNBC in prime-time viewership during the week of Sept. 17-23. Fox News continued its rating dominance at the top spot and MSNBC held steady at number 3. But perhaps the greatest source of embarrassment for the network Pres. Donald J. Trump made synonymous with the term “fake news” is the list between them and respectability.
ESPN ranked second in primetime on the heels of the NFL season ramping up and Major League Baseball heading into the playoffs. But the following list of networks has left egg on CNN’s face:
- HGTV
- NFL Network
- USA
- Hallmark Channel
- Investigation Discovery
- History Channel
During daytime hours, CNN continued to rank far behind its cable news competitors as well. Fox News and MSNBC ranked first and second respectively while CNN finished in a discouraging seventh place.
AdWeek, the industry standard organization for ratings measurements, reported that both Fox News and MSNBC garnered double-digit gains over ratings during the same week in 2017. CNN, however, dropped by double digits during daytime broadcasts and gained only a marginal 2.5 in prime time.
What makes the ratings week particularly stunning is that it comes during one of the hottest news cycles of the year. The contentious Brett Kavanaugh hearings provided high drama to news organizations and improved interest from viewers. CNN is well known for its anti-Trump and pro-Democrat positions on issues. The ongoing viewership loss — even during this high-interest news cycles — indicates that far-left viewers are tuning out.
CNN’s Anti-Trump Bias is its Undoing
Although CNN could not compare to the fact-based reporting by Fox News and others during 2016, it touted they years as its “most-watched ever.”
CNN notes that it outpaced “MSNBC across the board with the biggest advantage since 2009.” The heated election in which CNN favored Hillary Clinton and produced repeated “hit jobs” against then-candidate Trump was well received by left-leaning viewers. On election night, reality set in that the “most trusted name in news” didn’t have a clue. Pres. Trump won in what some consider a landslide while CNN called it the other way. The humiliation of its political “experts” being so woefully wrong changed the tenor of CNN to anti-Trump.
Narratives such as Russian Collusion and others have continued to highlight CNN’s inherent bias and inability to report accurately. During 2017, CNN overwhelming featured anti-Trump shows that drew ever closer to exact phrases and positions held by the Democratic party. The use of words such as “racist,” “xenophobic,” and “sexist” became catchphrases on CNN that mirrored Hillary Clinton’s campaign and post-election rhetoric. CNN quickly earned another nickname by Americans — the “Clinton News Network.”
By mid-2017, an almost unprecedented rating purge was transpiring at CNN. Falling far below its 2016 accomplishments, CNN suffered repeated losses that have only gotten worse. Consider that CNN saw a 41-percent loss in daytime viewers when comparing Sept. 3-9 of 2017 to the same week in 2018. Coupling that staggering loss, CNN declined by 36 percent in prime time as well.
CNN Slinks Into The Muck
Following credibility hits after supporting the faulty Russian Collusion narrative and now-disgraced former FBI Director James Comey, CNN went much lower.
The Stormy Daniels controversy seemed to be on constant rewind on CNN as the network hosted pornography lawyer Michael Avenatti an eye-raising 59 times in two months. His appearances outpaced all GOP members of Congress combined. At the crux of the so-called “reporting,” porn star Stormy Daniels had reportedly signed a lawful non-disclosure agreement from Pres. Trump’s attorney and cashed a check for more than $100,000 to not stir controversy about their previous relationship.
Although nothing illegal about the arrangement had been reported, apparently Stormy Daniels believed she could earn more money making seedy allegations since Trump became president. Avenatti was successfully sued during the period for not paying a former partner and his wife filed for divorce. CNN turned into a circus.
To say that CNN went into the sewer to throw dirt at the president would be nothing short of an understatement. As the rating decline demonstrates, Americans are unwilling to descend into the muck with CNN.
~ Patriotic Freedom Fighter
