SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

CNN FALLS BACK TO EARTH – FROM VARIETY:   While January 2021 will go down in the ratings record books for CNN, the last week of the month may offer a portent of what the post-Trump era will be like for the network.  In the first week of the Biden administration, the AT&T-owned news channel saw the audiences that had been flooding into primetime recently drop precipitously on Jan. 25-29 compared with the highs of previous weeks. Meanwhile, rival Fox News Channel saw its own ratings only dip slightly after weeks of registering its own sharp declines.  Another network that has been characterized as left-leaning, MSNBC, has also seen significant declines but nowhere near as steep as what has hit CNN: Variety Intelligence Platform’s analysis of the viewership data across two key metrics—the target news demographic for people ages 25-54, and the total audience watching—shows that CNN ended the final week of January with ratings dropping roughly 44% for total audience versus the prior week across all three hours of primetime.  What will CNN do without Donald Trump?  They won't unless...they pull off one of the great maneuvers in broadcast history and offer him his own show, unrestricted, no supervision.  Can you just see those numbers?

BERNIE RISES, AMERICA FALLS – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   WASHINGTON — Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders has been elevated to the powerful role of Senate Budget Committee Chairman as the Democratic Party continues its metamorphosis under the new Biden administration.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday announced the committee memberships for the new 117th Congress and also confirmed that West Virginia centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, who is quickly emerging as a powerful voice in the upper chamber, would lead the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.  After damaging allegations about her flagging mental acuity emerged in the press late last year, 87-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein also stepped aside and has been replaced as the chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.  The big news here is that Sanders, a socialist, will lead a committee that deals with the national budget.  What a show this will be.  When do the Democrats on the committee start to squirm?

February 2, 2021