Third-place CNN’s Q1 ratings might have been even more catastrophic were it not for a late surge due to the left-wing cable network’s decision to go 24/7 with the missing Malaysian airliner. Even with that late surge, though, CNN still had a disastrous first quarter of 2014, the third worst in its history. MSNBC also lost viewers, while Fox News gained.
Deadline reports that between December 30 and March 28, CNN averaged only 498k viewers during primetime and a miserable 169k in the coveted 25-54 advertiser demo. That’s a 3% dip in demo viewers over last year and an astounding 16% dip in overall viewers.
Second place MSNBC dipped 10% with 683k primetime viewers and 9% in total day viewers, including 2% in the demo.
Fox News, however, jumped 4% in total viewers and 3% in demo viewers. With 1.8 million total viewers and 293k demo viewers, Fox beats both of its left-wing competitors combined in total viewers.
MSNBC, which is basically left-wing talk radio with pictures, has been losing viewers due to President Obama’s continued misfortunes and the lack of a right-wing bogeyman to beat up. MSNBC went all in with Chris Christie, but a state scandal with some national repercussions is nowhere near as sexy as putting devil horns on George W. Bush. Also hurting MSNBC is Ronan Farrow, who has thus far been a ratings disappointment.
CNN’s primary problem has been a devastating shift to the hard-left. Before the disappearance of the Malaysian airliner, CNN had been out-flanking MSNBC’s to the political left with relentless attacks against Christians, conservatives, and a bordering-on-creepy obsession with identity politics and stripping Americans of their Second Amendment civil rights.
CNN chief Jeff Zucker has also made his network pay a big price for its missing airline coverage. The network’s ratings might have temporarily jumped but the damage to CNN’s prestige will last a lot longer.
CNN has not only lost its identity as a serious news channel, it has antagonized right-of-center viewers and stupidly made a play for left-wingers already devoted to MSNBC.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.