CNN ratings plummet after Trump town hall
CNN’s ratings continue to plunge after the network’s controversial town hall interview with Donald Trump.
Last week, the first full week since the May 10 town hall, CNN had its lowest-rated week since June 2015, averaging just 429,000 daily viewers Monday through Friday, according to ratings data cited by the Daily Beast.
MSNBC had more than double daily viewers, with 976,000, while Fox News drew a daily audience of 1.4 million, despite a drop in viewership following the firing of host Tucker Carlson earlier this month.
Trump’s May 10 town hall drew 3.3 million viewers, making CNN the most-watched cable news network that night, according to Nielsen data — but the network has been mired in controversy over the event and saw a drop in ratings in the aftermath.
During the live event, Trump repeated lies about the last election to a jubilant audience, angering critics, but CNN Chairman Chris Licht defended the town hall as newsworthy and important .
Last week, the first full week since the May 10 town hall, CNN had its lowest-rated week since June 2015, averaging just 429,000 daily viewers Monday through Friday.
Trump’s May 10 town hall drew 3.3 million viewers, but the network was mired in controversy over the event and saw a decline in ratings afterward.
A CNN spokeswoman declined to comment, but pointed to viewership data showing that for the month through May 20, CNN reached the most unique viewers aged two and older (39.173 million) and in the key demographic of 25-54 year olds (10.529 million), ahead of Fox News (35.422 million P2+ and 7.950 million P25-54).
Fox News suffered its own ratings decline in the weeks following Carlson’s departure, and last week the network was down 41% from a year ago in the key age demo. , and down 24% in total viewers.
The past three weeks have been Fox News’ lowest three weeks in total days in the key demo since before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Many Fox News viewers appear to have fled to small, right-wing Newsmax, which has seen viewership grow in the three weeks since Carlson was fired, with demo viewership up 120% from the previous four weeks.
For CNN and Fox, the damage appears to be greatest during prime time, and CNN has seen several of its prime times fall behind Newsmax from the town hall.
At CNN, the internal controversy over Trump’s mayoralty spilled over into the public, with some of the network’s top personalities loudly criticizing the decision to interview Trump in front of an audience of his cheering fans.
Last week, veteran correspondent Christiane Amanpour became the most high-profile CNN reporter to publicly criticize her network at city hall.
On May 12, two days after the town hall, CNN averaged 325,000 prime-time viewers, while Newsmax averaged 357,000.
Chris Licht, the new boss of CNN following the merger that created the parent company Warner Bros Discovery, has come to the defense of the town hall
CNN ratings continue to plunge after network’s controversial town hall interview with Donald Trump
Amanpour told a group of graduate students at Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism on Wednesday that she allegedly ‘dropped the mic’ on ‘mean person,’ a reference to when Trump launched this insult to moderator Kaitlan Collins.
She slammed CNN for hosting Trump at the live event in New Hampshire, where the 2024 presidential candidate repeated lies about the last election to a mostly adoring audience.
“I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in this particular format,” Amanpour said of the event.
Suggesting that live television may not always be the right format for such events, Amanpour said: “Some of the best, if not the most spirited and compelling, interviews are actually recorded and edited, without changing the context. or content, or truth or intent, but to alter the filibuster and a stream of misinformation.
Citing precedents from past debates or candidate forums, CNN should have insisted “our guests behave well – no boos, no shouting, no teasing, no cheering.”
Licht, the new boss of CNN following the merger that created the parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, came to the defense of the town hall.
During an internal call with CNN staffers last week, Licht noted that those in attendance at the town hall represent a large swath of America, according to The Associated Press.
“The mistake the media has made in the past is ignoring that these people exist,” he said. “Just like you can’t ignore that President Trump exists.”
Trump repeated an insult he used often during the 2016 election campaign when he called interviewer Kaitlan Collins, the network’s new 9 p.m. slot anchor, “nasty.”
Last week, veteran correspondent Christiane Amanpour became the most high-profile CNN reporter to publicly criticize her network at city hall.
Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said CNN plans to put more Republicans on the air as it seeks political diversity.
Zaslav said he and CNN chief Chris Licht told Republicans “they won’t get one more vote on Fox News.”
“Our view is that there are advocacy networks on each side,” Zaslav said at the SVB MoffettNathanson conference on technology, media and telecommunications. “We have the best journalists in the world. We need to show both sides of every problem.
Advertisers “don’t want to be part of an advocacy network,” but they want to be part of an information network, Zaslav said.
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