DOWN, DOWN, DOWN.  CNN apparently can do no right.  It keeps on sinking.  Attempts to straighten out its problems appear ineffective.  From Townhall:   

It's not news, necessarily, that CNN is not keeping up with the post-Trump administration times we live in — despite a change in course directed by new boss Chris Licht following a merger between CNN's parent company and Discovery. But when tanking ratings continue to sink to levels not seen in nearly a decade, there's bound to be some talk of whether the network is salvageable at all. 

Enter a new dispatch from TheWrap noting CNN "notched its lowest ratings in nine years across all its day parts for the week of Jan. 16 through Jan. 22, 2023," per ratings data from Nielsen: "just 444,000 viewers in primetime, 93,000 in the all-important age 25-54 news demographic and 417,000 in viewers and 80,000 in the demo for total day."

As TheWrap noted, last week was "the first time since May 2014" that saw CNN stay below 450,000 viewers. And it's not like there was a industry-wide dip in viewers last week. It turns out Fox News Channel, the leader in cable news for almost too many consecutive weeks to track at this point, had 1.4 million total viewers and 176,000 in the 25-54 demographic during the same timeframe. Their primetime shows brought in two million viewers and 256,000 in the 25-54 range.

Apparently not caring to hold back in evaluating Licht's programming success or lack thereof, TheWrap outlined the ratings woes on the fresh "CNN This Morning" with hosts he hand-picked to try competing with Morning Joe on MSNBC and Fox and Friends:

Some especially troublesome news out of this week’s Nielsen numbers is that Licht’s primary programming move, “CNN This Morning,” also suffered the lowest week since its launch just three months ago. It averaged just 331,000 viewers while “Fox & Friends” had nearly 1 million and “Morning Joe” drew 760,000.

COMMENT:  Will someone please say what needs to be said – that the culture of CNN is left-wing, and has been since its inception.  It became much worse during the Trump era when CNN almost became the official anti-Trump network.  Without Trump to destroy, what is CNN's mission?  There are lots of conservatives in this country, and CNN loses them before it goes on the air.

I've watched the "new" CNN recently.   There are some good things.  Its Ukraine coverage is superior, and professionally reported.  But, overall, the leftist tilt remains.  The journalism is lacking in detail and background, and history is rarely mentioned.  The depth that a 24-hour news network can bring is rare.  A viewer sometimes gets the feeling that the hosts have little interest in the news, little curiosity, and little vitality.  And some of them seem to feel that liberalism is the one true faith.

CNN should be revamped into a serious news network with the tightest standards, and a high regard for what is actually happening on American streets and in America's schools.  Its morning show should be a model of what a viewer would need and want to get through the day.  

I don't know if CNN can do it. 

January 30, 2023