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CNN Considers Major Staff Shake-Up Amid Tanking Ratings: Report

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Left-wing news network CNN is reportedly considering a major shake-up of programming and personalities amid tanking ratings that saw none of its regular shows averaging even a million viewers per episode in October.

While the network’s viewership has declined steadily since President Donald Trump left office, last month’s numbers were bad enough to trigger some major changes, according to a report.

First, this from Fox News:

The only thing spookier than Halloween for CNN is the network’s freefalling viewership. 

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During the month of October, nearly every single program failed to average 1 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. This marks historic lows for the so-called “most trusted name in news.”

The only two exceptions during the 31 days were the 90-minute Biden town hall, which still came in third place behind Fox News and MSNBC averaging only 1.2 million viewers, and the 30-minute “Cuomo Prime Time” that aired immediately after with 1.1 million.

“CNN averaged a devastating 480,000 in total day viewership in October, a whopping 76% drop from January amid the chaotic transition from President Trump to President Biden. Fox News averaged 1.4 million and maintained its total day viewership from earlier this year while MSNBC averaged 657,000 viewers in October, resulting in a 61% drop from January. The network lost 14% of its viewers from September,” Fox News added.

In primetime, Fox News is still the cable news rating king, averaging 2.6 million viewers, or just a 14 percent decline from the weeks leading to Biden’s inauguration.

Meanwhile, CNN’s viewership cratered to just 733,000 on average or a roughly 78 percent decline since January. MSNBC only averaged about 1.5 million viewers during the prime-time weekday hours.

Now, apparently, CNN — the very first 24-hour cable news outlet — is going back to its roots. The network is said to be implementing a new 100-percent all-straight news line-up beginning soon that will translate into a lot of firings in the weeks and months ahead.

Zero Hedge notes:

…Discovery chief David Zaslav – who is widely expected to assume stewardship of CNN after its merger with WarnerMedia is complete – has kept his public comments on the failing news network close [to] the vest. When asked by Deadline what he thinks will happen with honcho Jeff Zucker, Zaslav said “Jeff’s a good friend and I like him a lot.”

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But according to Jon Nicosia – former Mediaite and IJR managing editor (and former breaking news editor at the DC Examiner) – CNN is going to revert to a 100% news channel, and a “good number” of CNN’s “talent/staff” will be fired as part of a major shakeup.

Nicosia also said that another option being looked at is replacing the worst-performing programs with documentaries, which he says has been one of the rare “bright spots” during Zucker’s tenure.

None of the programming CNN currently offers appears to be resonating with Americans.

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“‘Cuomo Prime Time’ was CNN’s most-watched program in October, which does not amount to much since its beleaguered anchor Chris Cuomo reached an average of just 807,000 viewers, losing 8% of his audience since September,” Fox News continued.

The network said that though Cuomo’s program is the most popular on the competitor outlet, last month was its worst since the show launched in 2017. It finished behind 15 other Fox News programs and seven from MSNBC.

“CNN’s Cuomo suffered yet another uncomfortable news cycle after his brother, disgraced former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was charged with a sex crime, which went unmentioned on ‘Cuomo Prime Time,” Fox News added, noting further that Sean Hannity’s show “trounced” its time slot competition, averaging 2.7 million viewers compared to “The Rachel Maddow Show” which averaged 2 million in the 9 p.m. EDT slot.

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