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CNN has hired two producers from Fox News, the network that CNN has criticized for years.
“Kaitlan Collins’ new primetime show The Source has hired a former producer from Maria Bartiromo’s program while Jake Tapper just tapped an EP from Fox News Sunday for his weekday program. The decision is being called hypocritical by insiders since Tapper often trash-talks the number one cable network on air, Fox News,” Radar Online reported.
“As we first reported, Collins’ new shows could use some help after launching to dismal numbers. According to Nielsen Media Research, Collins’ new primetime show The Source debuted at 9 PM and was beaten by Fox News’ Hannity by triple digit percentage. Collins’ show, which had former VP Mike Pence as a guest, was also beaten by repeats of Golden Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants, South Park, King of Queens, Seinfeld, and Friends,” the outlet added.
After a difficult few months that saw major layoffs and the cancellation of Don Lemon, CEO Chris Licht was let go.
“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, Warner Bros. CEO, announced last month. “For a number of reasons, things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
“This was an exciting but incredibly challenging assignment and I learned a lot over the past 13 months,” Licht said in a separate statement. “I’ve been lucky enough to have had a successful, fulfilling career and I look forward to my next chapter. I wish the team at CNN the very best, always.”
Fox News has a few problems of its own.
Fox News cable news ratings have collapsed after the network took top-rated host Tucker Carlson off the air in late April. Things have gotten so bad at the network that longtime host Sean Hannity is struggling to win his own timeslot on most nights.
As noted by AdWeek, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow beat Hannity in the 8 PM ET time slot on Monday, bringing in 2.40 million total viewers compared to his 1.95 million.
Last Friday, Hannity barely won his timeslot when he brought in 1.34 million total viewers compared to CNN’s “Primetime” getting 416,000 and MSNBC’s “Wagner Tonight” getting 1.12 million.
Hannity’s primetime show has been feeling the heat since Carlson was abruptly ousted.
Hannity’s show, which got up to nearly 2 million in the final weeks of May, has fallen to around a 1.7 million average in July so far. For comparison, Hannity’s primetime show averaged around 3 million each night before Carlson’s departure.
After dominating cable news ratings for years, Fox News was knocked from its top perch by left-wing rival MSNBC in key time slots.
“Nielsen data regarding the week ending this past Sunday was shared on Twitter on Tuesday by A.J. Katz, a reporter specializing in the cable news business. According to the data, Fox’s primetime 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET viewership averaged 1,504,429. The average viewership for the more left-leaning MSNBC over the same time frame averaged 1,520,857, narrowly beating out the conservative network that has long been a leader in cable news viewership,” Newsweek reported.
Fox News has maintained an impressive streak of 120 weeks as the leader in average weekly primetime viewership, falling just short of two years and four months.
The last time the network did not secure the top spot in weekly viewership was in mid-February 2021.
Fox News revealed its brand new prime-time lineup last week and now one host is sharing an update with fans.
Popular host Jesse Watters says his “Jesse Watters Primetime” program will continue to cover stories the mainstream media ignores when it officially moves to 8 p.m. ET. Watters said his show is “in touch with the American people” unlike many other news outlets, Fox News reported.
Fox News announced its brand new prime-time lineup and revealed who will be taking over Tucker Carlson’s old time slot.
Since being taken off the air, Carlson has begun posting short monologues to Twitter, which Fox says is a violation of his contract.
The network has sent him a cease-and-desist letter, though so far, he has refused to do so, arguing that Fox violates their contract with him.
