CNN hosts Jake Tapper, right, and Dana Bash, left, take a commercial break during the CNN Republican Presidential Primary Debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan 10. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
By Michael Schwarz November 14, 2024 at 8:59am
If you examine cable news viewership trends closely enough, you will find reasons for both satisfaction and discouragement.
Nonetheless, satisfaction prevails when one contemplates the totality of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over his establishment antagonists at CNN.
To quantify that victory, consider that since the network began its ill-fated crusade against Trump in 2016, the former kings and queens of prime-time cable news at CNN have hemorrhaged 94 percent of their viewing audience, per the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
In 2016, CNN ranked as the most-watched cable news network, with an average of 13.3 million prime-time viewers.
Remarkably, that number now stands at only around 800,000 — a decline of 93.99 percent.
CNN’s 2024 election night ratings highlighted the decline.
On Nov. 5, the network drew only 5.1 million viewers compared to 6 million for establishment rival MSNBC. Prime-time titan Fox News ranked first with 10.3 million viewers.
Thus, it came as no surprise last week when a report surfaced that CNN plans massive layoffs, including on-air talent.
CNN, of course, continues to employ notorious Trump-haters such as Jim Acosta and Jake Tapper. Reliable establishment shills Anderson Cooper, Dana Bash and Kaitlan Collins also call the network home.
Should Trump sue CNN and other legacy media outlets that have lied about him?
At $20 million per year, Cooper’s salary dwarfs that of the younger Collins, who rakes in only $3 million.
Thus, new CEO Mark Thompson has some difficult choices to make.
In short, does the network continue its costly and fruitless war against Trump? Or, does it choose the prudent course by promoting some of its more appealing voices?
And that brings us to the aforementioned reasons for discouragement.
As awful as CNN has been since 2016, it is not irredeemable at the moment — at least not by comparison.
Host Erin Burnett, for instance, has shown signs of genuine fairness at times.
Meanwhile, token conservative commentator Scott Jennings has emerged as a rising star at CNN.
So why the discouragement? Well, if liberal viewers have shifted from CNN to MSNBC, it means that they want what MSNBC offers. And we know what that is.
Whereas CNN tempers its anti-Trump bias with occasional nods to real journalism, MSNBC makes no such pretenses.
On CNN, liberals might hear a different viewpoint from the likes of Jennings or even Burnett.
By contrast, MSNBC offers only howling banshees like unrepentant racist Joy Reid and pathological liar Rachel Maddow.
In other words, if viewership numbers tell the story, then liberal viewers prefer the banshees. And that does not bode well for truth and reconciliation.
Nonetheless, we still have cause to celebrate — and marvel at — Trump’s total victory over his CNN antagonists.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
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