Is CNN on Life Support? Bad Doesn't Even Begin to Explain What Happened in 2022

By Ryan Ledendecker January 12, 2023 at 1:43pm

The situation at CNN is so shockingly bad that it managed to lose a third of its primetime viewing audience last year compared with 2021, Adweek reported last week.

The network experienced a 33 percent loss in total primetime viewers year over year and a 27 percent decline in total day viewers, according to the report, which cited Nielsen ratings.

Things were even worse in the key 25-54 demographic, with a 36 percent drop in primetime and a 34 percent loss in total day. Yikes.

Adweek noted that “the network’s 122,000 total day demo average in 2022 represents CNN’s smallest demo audience ever.”

Summarizing the numbers in simple terms, Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote, “That means CNN averages only 722,000 primetime viewers, 171,000 primetime demo viewers (25-54 age range), 565,000 total day viewers, and 122,000 total day demo viewers. As far as the cable news race, CNNLOL is in last place by a country mile.”

Even more embarrassing? 2022 was an election year. Cable news channels typically do not have to work too hard to get decent ratings during an election year.

Interestingly, CNN’s ratings have plummeted since Donald Trump left the White House. The left-wing network spent years hyping up the perpetual attacks against the former president, and its viewers greatly rewarded it with impressive ratings.

But it’s all over now.

The steep drop in viewership appears to be a referendum on just how much of a failure the network has become, even with a new leader at the helm desperately attempting to correct its course.

Do you watch CNN?

Those lost viewers didn’t simply stop consuming the news. They went to other networks or outlets because they didn’t like what CNN was serving up.

Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald shared his opinion on the liberal network’s troubles, and he didn’t hold anything back.

“There are a few good journalists at CNN and I don’t take pleasure in anyone’s personal torment, but the institution itself is a toxic plague on the world,” he tweeted Thursday. “The strongest proof of this is the utter lack of self-reflection: literally zero public analysis of what they did to fail.”

There are a few good journalists at CNN and I don’t take pleasure in anyone’s personal torment, but the institution itself is a toxic plague on the world.

The strongest proof of this is the utter lack of self-reflection: literally zero public analysis of what they did to fail.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 12, 2023

In another tweet, Greenwald mentioned CNN+, the network’s short-lived streaming service.

“The death of CNN+ was melodramatic and rapid – here one day, gone the next! But the death of CNN itself is a slow, excruciating, torturous collapse, like a leprosy that each day consumes just a bit more of each limb, prolonging the inevitable demise,” he said.

The death of CNN+ was melodramatic and rapid – here one day, gone the next!

But the death of CNN itself is a slow, excruciating, torturous collapse, like a leprosy that each day consumes just a bit more of each limb, prolonging the inevitable demise. https://t.co/MMn8ByD5xR

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 12, 2023

Some pointed out that even with reporting late last year that CNN would soon cut a portion of its workforce, the recent signing of former Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger didn’t seem like a wise business decision for the struggling network.

and somehow hiring @AdamKinzinger seemed like a good idea. lol

— Skid Willie (@SkidWillie) January 12, 2023

It’s all unfortunate, honestly. CNN used to be a watchable network. It was never my first choice, but it was most likely to be on at the airport, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office or the local quick lube.

It feels like CNN bet the farm on going as far left as possible during the Trump years, and it very much appears as if that bet was a massive loser.

It’s time to pull the plug.

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