CNN Ratings Down 90%

CNN's ratings are down around 90% year-over-year, as reported by Fox News. CNN averaged 548,000 viewers for the first week of 2022, down from 2.7 million in 2021.

You'll remember that CNN bragged that its strong start to 2021 was a sign that it had closed the gap with Fox News and MSNBC. Of course, that wasn't true. CNN's early spike in 2021 was only a reaction to the Jan. 6 events at the US Capitol.

So it's no wonder CNN's programs more often than not lead with Jan 6., even more than a year later. It's all CNN has to discuss. However, the viewers don't care about that riot anymore. Viewers haven't cared in a long time. Not a single CNN program made the top 20 most-watched cable news shows in 2021.

For 12 months, CNN has hemorrhaged viewers. CNN recently drew all-time lows in key time slots such as 9 pm primetime and its morning show in both total viewers and the key demographic.

CNN misses Trump. It can't find a new boogeyman. It tried to replace Trump with Tucker Carlson. That didn't work. A rival cable news host cannot compete with a sitting US President.

CNN had some success lying about Joe Rogan taking a horse-dewormer, but that storyline hardly lasted more than a week. And cheerleading for President Joe Biden, a white man who's unpopular with older liberal TV viewers, is not the answer either.

Without breaking news, CNN lacks an identity. The network does not have an individual draw anymore. Chris Cuomo was CNN's most consistent needle mover, and CNN fired him in 2021. Though CNN will name Cuomo's replacement in 2022, the rumored names aren't promising. Michael Smerconish, Laura Coates, Brianna Keilar, and Don Lemon are not hosts who keep competitors up at night.

Ultimately, CNN is dishonest as well as boring. You can lie if you are charismatic, like Rachel Maddow does. However, you can't be both a liar and a bore, like Don Lemon.

No one cares about CNN anymore. Why would they?