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Reply With QuoteWow, lower than MSNBC? I didn't know that. That's embarrassing.
-dale
CNN's ratings in May provided the worst month for the cable news network in nearly 20 years, according to Nielsen figures. A loss of 50 percent of its audience share since the same time in May, 2011.
The first cable news network which led the way for today's 24-hour news cycle in the early 1980s was the top-rated news channel for years. Eventually they lost their devoted audience to the hard-charging Fox News and to a much lesser extent, MSNBC.
CNN now lags far behind both outlets and continues to head south. It's recent turn to the middle of the political dialog has ended up hurting their ratings. Many critics of the news organization jokingly accused CNN as standing for the “Clinton News Network.”
Facing sinking ratings to its rivals, CNN attempted to capture the middle of the political debate.
The network's average audience in May fell to 388,000, with only 113,000 in the 25-54 age bracket that national advertisers covet as the holy grail. On the other side of the coin, Fox’s average was 1.65 million and MSNBC’s was 658,000.
“It’s really a bloodletting — there’s no other way to describe it,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. “They are trying to stick to old-fashioned, unbiased news broadcasting when their rivals have worked out that to draw an audience when there aren’t major stories breaking you need to do the opposite.”
Piers Morgan, hired 19 months ago for the 9 pm time slot, replacing the legendary Larry King, attracted an average of 417,000 viewers in May, the worst ratings for that hour since 1991 according to The Independent, a London-based website. When Morgan took the helm in early 2011, he inherited an average around 600,000 viewers a night.
The ousted Larry King must be muffling a chuckle with his very public dismissal.
Worse yet, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has lost nearly a quarter of his viewers the past year while ratings for Wolf Blitzer’s two-hour “Situation Room” are down by more than half.
This all indicates the changing political views of the country. Fox News Network has clearly captured the hearts and minds of the American viewing public. The O'Reilly Report, a weekday prime time news analysis program, has been number one in it's 8 pm time slot the past 15 years. Sean Hannity's news and opinion program that follows O'Reilly has double Morgan's audience 9 pm audience.
There is clearly a changing of the guard in television news that can be seen with the three network news shows. ABC, CBS and NBC have seen a steady drop in viewership the past two decades as the 24-hour news cycle has made half-hour presentations incomplete. Viewers want more depth in 2012.
With the change in viewer habits and the rise of conservative Fox News, one has to wonder what impact that will have with a left-leaning liberal v moderate conservative in the November's presidential election.
CNN's ratings sink into the abyss - San Francisco Bay Area Moderate Conservative | Examiner.com
No such thing as a good tax - Churchill
To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.
Wow, lower than MSNBC? I didn't know that. That's embarrassing.
-dale
The underlined bit is a ringing endorsement for CNNOriginally Posted by Doktor
I find it amusing that the author considers unbiased reporting to be old fashioned.
See the qualifier he adds, 'when there aren’t major stories breaking' then spin to the max.
Scare them, anger them, confuse them, entertain them but do not inform them. Be selective with what is said or not.
All very good for business.
The only news i get from TV is special interest programs where they examine an issue and go to town on it. Viewers do want more depth, to be able to talk about an issue for 5 minutes instead of just 5 sentences.
But what is the quality of that depth.
Enter the formulaic news show. One hour of hot air with a number of talking heads yelling at each other. Newspapers has the TV beat on that.
Last edited by Double Edge; 06 Jun 12, at 10:36.
DE,
The sheer drop in ratings got my attention to the story, not the writer's comment.
Tried to find the Nielsen's report, but to no avail.
Seems like the data is for the TV channel in USA only. Was wondering if it is only for the global reach as well as for their website(s).
As for his remarks, they are dubious at least. CNN un-biased? Maybe they are less biased then the other MSM, but un-biased? Seriously?
Good news for CNN (no pun intended here) is elections are comming and more people will follow them.
No such thing as a good tax - Churchill
To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.
I think that report is pay only. You might find articles that excerpt just the relevant bit, maybe a graphic but that will be all.
Just domestic TV in the US.
Does not take into account the global reach CNN has and how they are leaps & bounds ahead of any other american competitor. In developing countries CNN's only competitor is BBC. In developed markets they would be also competing with domestic news networks.
Sure, every channel has bias, the question is of degree. And you only find that out when you compare with others and your own knowledge of the issue.
yep
Last edited by Double Edge; 06 Jun 12, at 12:07.
This is CNN's problem. Fox rates because it's entertainment, not news. Actual news and information is supplied now by the web where you can set your own pace and depth of research, CNN's traditional role is redundant.
So maybe CNN needs to offer more specialised programming. Shows that can compete.
There is one program that i think does it well, Jim Middleton's Newshour on the Australia Network.
They pick 3 or 4 topics and go into them for 8-10 mins. I was surprised at the depth and the reporting was good, beat BBC easily.
The weekly programs do a good job at this. Daily is going to require 'creative' pitches. That is where the viewer numbers are unfortunately.
Last edited by Double Edge; 06 Jun 12, at 23:07.
In the US that's called NPR news...
Since 1991 I have decided to watch no more CNN.
The reason is here :
As I heard that Ted Turner married Jane Fonda, aka Hanoi Jane, in 1991, CNN became tabu zone on my personal TV-news programm.
http://www.1stcavmedic.com/Jane_Fonda/Jangun4.jpg
Jane Fonda applauding an NVA anti-aircraft gun crew. These guns were used to shoot down American planes and contributed to the deaths of American Airmen.
CNN is horrible. I've seen high school produced news shows that are far more interesting and professional. Watching CNN is like watching TMZ...ughhh. CNN needs to clean house and fire everyone...all the producers, editors and anchorpeople and completely revamp the network. They can't do any worse.
I actually sat through 30 minutes of MSNBC the other day (I'm visiting my in-laws). Luckily, I kept my tongue in check watching the I Heart Barry/Barrack Network. What a pathetic channel.
Last edited by McFire; 09 Jun 12, at 21:22. Reason: typo
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
Well, perhaps not old-fashioned. But it's "European".
Foxnews once tried to enter the European market with biased news - they even tuned it down compared to US broadcasting. They were laughed off the satellites. CNN is considered okay, but still a bit "too american", in particular too nationalist and pro-american. CNBC still survives somehow, i have no idea who watches that crap. Especially when BBC is on the next transponder over.
"As I heard that Ted Turner married Jane Fonda, aka Hanoi Jane, in 1991, CNN became tabu zone on my personal TV-news programm..."
Correctimundo. Unfcukingforgiveable.
"This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs
Better off getting your news from the web or NPR for that matter at this point...closest thing to 'television news' I watch at this point is on CBS.
"Draft beer, not people."
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