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CNN Becoming Irrelevant: Lowest Prime Time Ratings In At Least 13 Years

By Noel Sheppard | December 16, 2010 | 09:57

A  A
Noel Sheppard's picture

Is CNN becoming irrelevant?

According to TVByTheNumbers.com, the self-proclaimed most trusted name in news's prime time ratings this year are the lowest since at least 1997:

CNN’s woes worsened this year. Despite the somewhat bogus total reach-touting, the  network hit primetime ratings lows (or at least going back to 1997, which is all we could dig up data for) for total viewers and viewers 25-54. 

A look at Tuesday's prime time numbers should give you an idea of just how terribly this cable network is doing. 

Fox New's "O'Reilly Factor" now frequently gets more viewers than CNN's extended prime time lineup (not including the 11PM broadcast of "Anderson Cooper 360".)

Right in the heart of CNN's weeknight programming, "John King USA" and "Parker Spitzer" received a combined 647,000 total viewers Tuesday which was less than any single first-run program on MSNBC and less than half as much as any first-run show on Fox.

For the whole day Tuesday, CNN averaged only 379,000 viewers per hour compared to Fox's 1.3 million.

To be sure, CNN is doing very well internationally, and its website garners a lot of attention as well as ad revenue. But the cabler's broadcasting numbers are continuing to decline to the point of total irrelevancy.

About the Author

Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Click here to follow Noel Sheppard on Twitter.
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Stop Censoring The Gosnell Trial!

Comments

What a shocker

Submitted by hbnolikeee on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:03am.

It couldn't be all the lousy partisan hacks that are part of the "dream team" we call CNN?

hbnolikeee
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"The World's News Loser™

Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:10am.

Logo update needed.

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I'd guess that conservatives

Submitted by Chris Norman on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:18am.

I'd guess that conservatives and most independents prefer to watch Fox News. The liberals  prefer the liberal talk with nastiness in it's purest form at MSNBC. CNN is left with, well, whatever's left that's - er - left.

CNN can either do the intelligent thing, hold their liberal noses, and try to be more balanced and neutral, or more likely, comb the mental hospitals and streets of America to look for liberals as potential hosts who are even more psycho than the ones on MSNBC. It's a tall order, but, maybe there are some out there.

Let's make the 2012 campaign: "The War on Error"
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Are you kiddin me?

Submitted by BigAlSouth on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:16am.

But I thought that demand for socialist propaganda masquerading as news was in such high demand in this country.

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CNN dropped all its interesting shows.

Submitted by Red Jeep on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:16am.

Crossfire, Capitol Gang, Inside Politics etc.

None of its current anchors are watchable for more than 5 minutes.

So most of its viewers drifted elsewhere.

And it's this bad with millions of Americans having CNN available on their basic or Tier 1 cable subscription package, but only 379,000 watch on average per hour. .

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Yes, but with powerhouse

Submitted by Chris Norman on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:27am.

Yes, but with powerhouse names like John King, Kathleen Parker, Eliot Spitzer, and the biggest... Anderson Cooper - you'd think they'd be absolutely crushing the competition. :)

Let's make the 2012 campaign: "The War on Error"
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How could you leave out Wolfie?

Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:32am.

He's the beard, I mean the face, of CNN!

Take away his clipboard, and this is what's left.

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Maybe making up the news doesn't help.

Submitted by Red Jeep on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:36am.

Prime example is the article below by Matthew Balan about CNN Jessica Yellin reporting that Congressional low poll numbers due to DADT.

Reporting like that may get Jessica Washington , DC invites to cocktail parties of the "knowing" elites but drives viewers away because it makes no sense.

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They wanted to be middle-of-the-road

Submitted by KC Mulville on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:33am.

What they're offering isn't informed analysis. They're just putting out people who are liberal but not as flamboyantly liberal or as wacky about it as MSNBC. They think they're offering "centrist" analysis, but it's nothing more than liberal-lite. It's RINOs and DINOs, with the rare exception of Carville or Bill Bennett. 

MSNBC is outrageous, but at least it has a car-wreck-style of "interesting" programming. I occasionally watch MSNBC to see if any of the anchors is pulling a Howard Beale, frothing and spitting venom while wearing a rumpled raincoat.

MSNBC is horror-liberalism. But CNN is just boring liberalism. 

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All together now....

Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:24am.

AAWWWWW.......
 

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NB needs a like/dislike button

Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:28am.

very much thought the same thing, but with a bit of an add-on

"Apparently, I'm supposed to be more angry about what Mitt Romney does with his money than what Barack Obama does with mine"
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Becoming Irrelevant?

Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:26am.

More like BEEN irrelevant.

"Most trusted name in propaganda".

"Apparently, I'm supposed to be more angry about what Mitt Romney does with his money than what Barack Obama does with mine"
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At what point do station

Submitted by Captain Repus on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:40am.

At what point do station managers and owners decide that they are a business, not a political party.

If people want to watch a freak show, once a year at the local carnival is sufficient.

Did you know Doug has Mesothelioma? We'll deal with the government. You have enough to worry about.
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I dont like being Lied to!

Submitted by circusstorm on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 10:40am.

CNN is that pathetic friend nobody likes. You try avoiding him whenever you see him. He always has these fantastic stories and wants to be your best friend. At least with MSNBC & FOX, i know these friends. I know who they are. I know they don't like each other and i only tolerate MSNBC who is a jackass. FOX is my best friend. BUT THEY STILL DON'T LIE TO ME!!!

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Progressive cheerleading does not sell.

Submitted by JLin on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:02am.

When you betray a successful business model to promote unpopular political ends, you will fail. CNN has failed. They let down their shareholders and they let down America.

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At what level can the network

Submitted by Hunter12 on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:26am.

At what level can the network be considered a separate piece of the overall corporate structure?  Has anyone put a number to how much GE stands to make off of the AGW legislation, if they can dupe enough people into believing it?  MSNBC and NBC can take a loss of a couple of million to spin the BS.  Should be interesting when Comcast takes over control.  They make their money from viewership of their products.  Look at who owns CNN: Ted Turner!  Anyone think there may be directives from the top to slant every story in favor of Man as the bad guy in current climate controversy?  When you have people at the top writing the paychecks with a proven agenda, how can you trust anything reported by any of these networks?  Either the people who own them stand to make billions off of the Green business or they already have billions and have been driven crazy by guilt over that fact.  Hey Ted, I came from a very large family, but only had a couple of kids.  Can I get credits for the brothers and sisters I had, but didn't give to my children?

 

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."  - Sir Winston Churchill

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Are they making enough

Submitted by Hunter12 on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:08am.

Are they making enough overseas to keep this going?  There is a large audience for the "America can't do anything right" style of news in Europe and Asia and it's watched every day by those who know that they can't pull up stakes over there and move here.  It's a salve for their egos that everything isn't so great over here that helps keep them going.  What I don't understand is why it has to be broadcast domestically first.  Wolf could be as big as the Hoff over there, if he'd focus a little more.

 

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."  - Sir Winston Churchill

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Maybe it's time they sell to

Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:17am.

Maybe it's time they sell to Rupert Murdoch for $1.00, if he would even have them.

Barack_Must_Go.....

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They need Joyless and Guyrofalo.......

Submitted by Tomorama on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 11:23am.

Red jeep said it all for me as they dropped my favorite talk show ever - Crossfire and the Capital gang and others that were WATCHABLE.

They also had Glenn Beck who has a following on Fox now and even though I don't watch, his ratings for a 5 pm show are huge.

They also had Dobbs, but deemed him too opinionated, problem REALLY was they didn't LIKE his OPINION on some things.

I peek at local boy John King sometimes as I am no fan of Shemp, but for the most part the network is bland, boring and though they deny it, it leans left at the start of EVERY story or the "angle" of every story is through the lefts prism.  

There are a couple of gorgeous women on there especially one who works on the weekend and I do like John King, the rest is like watching paint dry. 

If you make poverty easy, you will have more of it. Benjamin Franklin
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So, you're telling me, that Parker / Sptizer show

Submitted by redright88 on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 12:40pm.

didn't turn the fortunes of CNN around? I thought the liberal vs liberal no holds debate concept was a novel idea.


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Do these numbers take into

Submitted by Guttermouth's Return on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 1:18pm.

Do these numbers take into account the different prime time programming within respective time zones?

For example, on the West Coast Morning Joe is over by 7 am, and Larry King is on the 6 o'clock hour in the evenings.  

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"All day totals"

Submitted by CobraMan on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 3:05pm.

Well, since the numbers include those for an entire day, I would say that, yes, the numbers account for time zone discrepancies.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution

Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court

Or Anwar al-Awlaki.

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Oh, and by the way...

Submitted by CobraMan on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 3:09pm.

Oh, and by the way, since each network decides their own programming, especially time-slots I would hazard a guess that CNN would try to place their most popular show in a time-slot that has a higher viewership potential, so I don't think that the difference in the various time zones has much of an effect on ratings.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution

Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court

Or Anwar al-Awlaki.

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TIme zones do have an effect

Submitted by Guttermouth's Return on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 3:19pm.

TIme zones do have an effect if you're using DirecTV...many stations arrive via east coast feed.

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Just another example of a

Submitted by DWoSD on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 1:55pm.

Just another example of a greedy corporation shipping viewership jobs over seas.  In this case good riddance....

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This shouldn't

Submitted by dirtydan64 on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 2:04pm.

Come as any real BIG surprize to anyone by any means, CNN since the Wolfster has unmasked his identity for Obama and join in the crusade against there competitor FNC there lucky to still be able to air any Braking News to anyone !! Kepp on keeping on CNN your definately on the right path to Destruction it's working !!!

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Put a fork in it......it's done.

Submitted by Herbster on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 2:07pm.

Heavens to mergatrioid!  With the lineup of of anchors at CNN, how can they miss?  Easy......let's call it the "Lightweight lineup."  Any station that has a "Financial expert" named POPPY on It's staff, needs to do some serious rethinking.  Watch Kudlow and his crew if you want REAL financial news delivered by EXPERTS who know what "Adjustable rate" means.  The CNN financial whiz did NOT know what this simple term meant.

Their lineupof incompetent news readers borders on the criminal.  I cannot watch King and his wife, Dana (The beagle) Bash, the lemon named Lemon, Wolf the dull, etc.  Good for white noise if you can't sleep.

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CNN was last revelant during the 1st Gulf War

Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 3:35pm.

...which was the last time I remember actually watching it.

-Dave

Vote for the American in November

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CNN is no longer relevent.

Submitted by johnsonl on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 5:56pm.

CNN is no longer relevent. They have slanted left and will have to go through a complete change in staff, from the owners to the janitors, to even get people to try them again.

Boy, they were great during the first Gulf War. They need to get that formula back! It's pretty simple: collect the news and report it without bias.

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It should also be noted

Submitted by gwalt on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 6:09pm.

That CNN is in over 100 million homes and is in Top 5 ---definitely Top 10 in distribution. Fox does not break Top 25 in subs. I think 85 million is the cutoff for Top 25. This is what I recall reading last year anyway. 

 "A lot of briefing for a 2 hr. special with Dan Rather. Saw the show & wonder why we bothered".             Ronald Reagan                                                           

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CNN deserves its

Submitted by sometimesright on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 6:37pm.

CNN deserves its in-the-toilet ratings.  they worked hard to get them.

"Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." Ronald Reagan
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