Fox News has seen a meteoric rise in ratings over the past decade, while MSNBC’s ratings have been mixed since Zucker took control of CNN in January 2013.
However, the cable news network is currently down 29% among adults 25-54 years old. Its average January 2013 news demo was 199,000. Primetime last month was 141,000. This is the result It is quite bad.
The network’s primetime lineup has been relatively stable in that time, with Anderson Cooper’s “AC 360°”The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. ET. Piers Morgan was replaced by Don Lemon in 2014. Chris Cuomo assumed that slot in 2017. Lemon moved back to 10 p.m. in 2017. But Cuomo, who consistently had the network’s top-rated show, was fired last December amid fallout for his role in helping his brother, disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, respond to a wave of sexual misconduct accusations that led to the Democratic politician’s resignation last summer.
CNN is actually UpFrom 443,000 viewers in January 2013, to 493,000 last month, 11% in total-day (6:00 to 6:01 a.m.). But again, there’s the demo bummer that overshadows those gains: CNN is down 25% among adults 25-54 since 2013 under Zucker’s oversight.
That generally downward movement during Zucker’s nine-year CNN tenure is not the case across the board in cable news. Fox News Channel, which is the dominant channel in this space, had a total of 2.266 million primetime viewers in January 2022. This was 35% more than the January 2013 average (1.674 million). Fox News Channel’s average monthly viewership in the key demo was 342,000, an increase 23% on 2013 (277,000). Fox News’ total day viewership is up 36% (1.422 million viewers now vs.1.046 million then) while its key demo audience is up +6% (227,000. now vs. 213,000. then).
No matter how you slice it, Fox News has been killing CNN — especially lately. In primetime total viewers, Fox News is currently bringing in a nightly audience 3.5 times larger than CNN’s. The demo gap is almost 2.5 times larger than CNN’s, and the (growing!) total-day chasms are nearly as wide between the cable news channels.
The liberal-leaning CNN and Fox News are both conservative-leaning, but they appeal to different sides of the aisle, especially during primetime. But what about MSNBC which appears to lean more to the left than CNN.
In January 2022, MSNBC had 1.167 million primetime viewers. This is 44% more than January 2013, when it was 813,000. That’s a great gain — especially on a percentage basis — but it’s being offset exactly in the demo, which is still a key component in selling ad time. MSNBC’s average primetime viewership among adults aged 25-54 was 132,000 last month. Down44% higher than 2013 (235,000). MSNBC’s total day has seen a 35% increase in total viewers (January 2022 average 661,000 vs. Jan 2013 488,000) as well as a 52% decrease in the key news demo (down 75,000 from 157,000 in 2013, and down to 75,000 2022).
In November 2012, Barack Obama won reelection. There was no new induction and therefore no new administration when Zucker took over at CNN. Therefore, we feel January 2013 is reasonably comparable with January 2022 — at least in terms of the political news landscape. The way television is consumed has certainly changed and a great deal of viewership has shifted to streaming and/or delayed viewing, but news programming, like sports, is still primarily consumed on linear TV — and almost entirely live.
Zucker wrote the following in an email he sent Wednesday to his staff: “As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years. I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today.”
Allison Gollust is the executive vice president and chief market officer and acknowledged that she and Zucker had been in a relationship. “Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years. Recently, our relationship changed during COVID. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time,”Gollust stated in her own statement Wednesday. She will continue to work for the network.
The interim leadership of the company has been given to Ken Jautz, Amy Entelis, and Michael Bass, all CNN executives.
