The XXX Olympics have not been good news for CNN. According to Nielsen data, the week of July 30, the channel garnered its lowest primetime ratings among adults 25-54 (96,000) and total viewers (318,000) in twenty years.
CNN's Ten Lowest Rated Weeks
| P2+ | P25-54 | |||
| WEEK | Live+SD AA(000) | Live+SD AA(000) | ||
| WEEK1087-07/30/2012 | 318 | WEEK1087-07/30/2012 | 96 | |
| WEEK1077-05/21/2012 | 344 | WEEK450-05/15/2000 | 98 | |
| WEEK1003-12/20/2010 | 379 | WEEK1077-05/21/2012 | 102 | |
| WEEK451-05/22/2000 | 380 | WEEK448-05/01/2000 | 103 | |
| WEEK1080-06/11/2012 | 382 | WEEK1004-12/27/2010 | 103 | |
| WEEK1076-05/14/2012 | 385 | WEEK1076-05/14/2012 | 104 | |
| WEEK449-05/08/2000 | 396 | WEEK449-05/08/2000 | 105 | |
| WEEK1083-07/02/2012 | 396 | WEEK1003-12/20/2010 | 105 | |
| WEEK457-07/03/2000 | 400 | WEEK1083-07/02/2012 | 107 | |
| WEEK125-02/21/1994 | 407 | WEEK451-05/22/2000 | 109 |
Looking at individual programs, Piers Morgan Tonight scored a series low of 349,00 total viewers and 81,000 adults 25-54, while the 10PM telecast of Anderson Cooper 360 earned CNN's lowest ratings in the time period in 20 years.
| Network | Period | Program | Time | (000s) | (000s) |
| CNN | 07/30/12-08/05/12 | AC 360 (M-Th)/COOPER SPCL (Fri) | 08:00P -09:00P | 349 | 81 |
| CNN | 07/30/12-08/05/12 | Piers Morgan Tonight | 09:00P -10:00P | 314 | 81 |
| CNN | 07/30/12-08/05/12 | AC 360 (M-Th)/COOPER SPCL (Fri) | 10:00P -11:00P | 259 | 97 |
It’s Bush’s fault.
Actually, according to the table, Morgan hit a low of 314,000 viewers.
You’ll know that what you recorded is CNN when you catch yourself trying to skip programming to watch commercials.
If they shifted right, they could turn this around. But, they won’t…buh bye, CNN!
Really, shifting to the right would fix it? Do you honestly think that will pry people away from Fox? Uh, no. Shifting left or right won’t help. Shifting away from stupid would do wonders for CNN. Stop trying to copy Fox or CNBC and do something original. Dump the overpaid preening media starlets and promote real journalists.
A real “center” position might do it but you know they won’t.
Late Sunday night, CNN was the only channel with live coverage of the Sikh massacre. As I glanced at the schedule from my cable provider, during that period MSNBC, Current and the Fox Right-Wing Propagannda Network had prison documentaries. Just for fun, I set my DVR for the Fox Right-Wing Propaganda Network to record from 1:30 am until 2:00 am just to see if they’d break away for live coverage of the Mars Rover landing. I theorized they’d stay with the Geraldo rerun with only a mention of the landing on the chyron if it was successful, breaking in only if it crashed so they could blame Obama. To their credit, they DID break away and offer actual coverage of the event. The FRWPN personnel who made the decision to do so were probably fired the next day.
They need to pick a lane, remember what the 2nd letter is “news” and be a news network. Have news people be your commentators not people like Donna Brazille and Alex Snuffulafugus. The fact that Piers Morgan has a job and millions don’t is a sad commentary on the world.
It doesn’t even pay to turn on the studio lights and operate the cameras.
CNN
RIP
At what point do cable and satellite providers tell Time-Warner that paying to carry CNN/HLN just isn’t worth it. Seriously, if they would lower my cable bill and ditch the carriage of CNN and HLN, I would be very happy! How they can demand such high fees is beyond me. I panicked when they took off Comedy Central, but if DirecTV threatened to remove CNN, I’d say go ahead, take it, who needs it. So many better places to get news.
Shifting right won’t help. MSNBC tried that before when they hired Tucker Carlson and Alan Keyes and it didn’t work because Fox News already has that demographic locked down. They didn’t get to second place until they became the liberal version of Fox because apparently people on both sides of the political spectrum only want to have their beliefs confirmed. People only tune in to CNN when there’s breaking news, so I’m not sure how they’re going to turn things around.
@JR
Thats about the best post about CNN that I have read since I been coming here. Kudo’s JR, well done
@JR
Yes, CNN sees a bump in breaking news but they still don’t get Fox News numbers. CNN isn’t number one even in breaking news. Many non-partisan news organizations are successful – broadcast news still posts hugse ratings numbers. 60 Minutes is a success. NPR, Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The Financial Times, Christian Science Monitor, Politico are all nonpartisan organizations that have been successful. CNN by its own complacency and aloofness has tarnished its own brand. The problem is that it lacks a defining philosophy and a vision for how it will present the news. They take a schizophrenic, shotgun approach to news presentation that even the most severely ADD patient couldn’t follow. Their top news personalities are smug jerks that lecture more than report. They all live in the Manhattan bubble that is completely separated from the rest of the country. They are clueless and out of touch. I don’t buy that they are just an innocent victim of partisan cable news talk – that is what the idiotic CNN executives tell themselves. There is a market for real journalism but CNN just isn’t delivering.
Hopefully, this won’t mean the end of Soledad O’Brien’s riveting ‘Black in America’ specials. Those are awesome.
Columbo. I take it you are being sarcastic. Her specials? OMG
To sum it up, CNN needs to get back to being a “centrist” news network, obviously leaning left or right does not work, or trying to be “FOX” or “MSNBC” is stupid because there is already an audience for that. If CNN has any intention on not being bankrupt, they need to get back to the news network they were before, accurate reporting and unbiased news coverage, and serving America’s “middle ground” audience. Their current left leaning slant isn’t working, and is clearly shown by the severe drop in ratings of recent.
rip
Don’t worry everyone, we’re working diligently to get the ratings back. We’re canceling all of our shows except Piers Morgan Tonight. We are also extending Piers Morgan Tonight to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will be called Piers Morgan Forever. Piers is the right move for our liberal, we mean, balanced network, and with the aid of our new logo (it’s blue!) CNN will be number one in no time.
Huh,
What’s wrong with P.Morgan show .? I think it’s a great show and he’s the left’s answer to the likes of bill o’Reilly and rush limbaugh. Of course he’s not as mean as those righties talking heads but he’s the only one who stands his ground and makes sure the questions are being properly answered. Bravo Piers, keep it up. You’re doing an excellent job. The ratings will show it eventually.