CNN SINKS to Smallest Weekday Audience Among Key 25-to-54 Demo in 22 Years

June 21st, 2022 5:31 PM

Fox News media reporter Brian Flood might have been wearing a grin as he reported on the ratings chasm between CNN and Fox News.

The obsession with January 6 is NOT working magic for CNN. No wonder Brian Stelter complains about their "freedom of reach"! 

CNN had its smallest audience in 22 years on Friday among the demographic most coveted by advertisers as the network continued its ongoing struggle to attract viewers.

CNN averaged only 56,000 viewers between ages 25-54 on June 17. The last time CNN had a smaller turnout among the critical category was July 10, 2000. 

Friday was also CNN’s smallest weekday audience among total viewers since June 2014, as the network settled for only 283,000 average viewers. By comparison, Fox News averaged 1.4 million total viewers and 209,000 in the key demo. It was Fox News' largest advantage over CNN since August 6, 2015. 

The dismal turnout capped a miserable three-day stretch for CNN, as the Warner Bros. Discovery network averaged only 88,000 demo viewers June 15-17 for its worst three-weekday performance since June 2014. 

Stelter's time slot also displays how badly CNN loses to Fox. No wonder they wail that democracy is in peril! 

Stelter averaged only 421,000 total viewers and a mere 56,000 among the prized 25-to-54 demo. Flood reported it was the smallest audience for Reliable Sources since December 27, 2015, among total viewers and the smallest since December 29, 2013, among the demo. 

Then came the "low blow" of comparing Stelter to non-news programming, even reruns: 

Reruns of Family Matters, Roseanne, The Office, Shark Tank and Family Guy all outdrew Stelter’s program among the 25-54 demo, as did children's programming such as Peppa Pig and Spongebob SquarePantsOver 5,000 cable telecasts topped Reliable Sources in the demo last week.