“Upcoming programming changes could make matters worse,” an insider tells TheWrap.
Boy, do the hits keep coming for CNN’s semi-new CEO Chris Licht — and we don’t just mean the network’s lineup.
CNN posted its lowest ratings in all of its day parts for the week of January 16 to January 22, 2023, with just 444,000 viewers in primetime, 93,000 in the all-important demo, and 417,000 in viewers and 80,000 in viewers, according to Nielsen. Average in all day demo. It is the first time since May 2014 that the network failed to reach 450,000 viewers.
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By comparison, Fox News attracted 1.4 million viewers and 176,000 in the demo during the same period, while MSNBC clocked 629,000 total viewers and 69,000 in the demo. In primetime, Fox News had 2 million viewers, 256,000 in the demo, and MSNBC had 943,000 viewers and 91,000 in the demo.
Some particularly troubling news from this week’s Nielsen numbers is that Licht’s primary programming move, “CNN This Morning,” also suffered its lowest week since its launch three months ago. It averaged only 331,000 viewers, while ‘Fox & Friends’ had nearly 1 million and ‘Morning Joe’ 760,000.
Licht selected CNN’s Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins to host the rebooted morning show. But so far that trio has failed to increase its audience. A person with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap exclusively last week that EP Eric Hall is being reassigned to “CNN Tonight” hosted by Laura Coates, indicating that Licht is aware that The show needs to do better.
Insiders also told TheWrap that the hosts, including Lemon, Harlow, and Collins, “seem to be frustrated” about the direction.
An insider said, “The show can’t strategically decide what it’s really about, so it’s trying to be everything a viewer can be excited about.” “The audience for morning news on network TV is different from the cable news audience and since we’re not getting new viewers, we definitely need to maintain our legacy”
As TheWrap previously reported, CNN will soon launch a new daytime slate and anchor trio that aims to take a “fresh approach” to its daytime programming through two new shows.
The network will host an Eastern block from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sarah Sidner out of CNN’s New York studios, while an Eastern standalone program from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. will be hosted by Brianna Keeler, Boris Will. Sanchez and Jim Ciuto.
But insiders spoke of fears that things are unlikely to get better. “Upcoming programming changes could make matters worse,” an insider tells us.
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