CNN has discovered the solution to its decades-long ratings decline, but will the network follow the money or remain in the basement to appease the peers of its left-leaning hosts?
When it hosted a town hall event with former President Donald Trump on a Wednesday evening, years after cable news had become irrelevant, the network annihilated its competition.
Simply by providing a forum for a former president and the foremost presidential candidate of a major party to address voters, the event drew more than 3 million viewers, or roughly the size of an average “Tucker Carlson Tonight” audience on Fox News before his dismissal.
The event was a catastrophe for the network because the left-leaning moderator, Kaitlan Collins, could not control her bias.
However, the corporate press joined conservatives in denouncing her online, albeit for different reasons.
Conservatives who had hoped for a fair hearing for Trump were dismayed by Collins’ disrespectful interruptions.
The left, who hadn’t seen the former president on CNN since 2016, was most enraged by her inability to adequately manage her planned ambush of the former president.
Those who weren’t feigning indignation when Trump was given a microphone collectively lost their wits when the former president was permitted to speak freely.
However, when we examine the statistics, neither side’s reactions are pertinent.
Mediaite reported, citing preliminary Nielsen data, that the CNN town hall attracted 3.1 million viewers. This number will increase as the network gains a greater understanding of the number of viewers who tuned in via various digital broadcasts.
However, Wednesday’s 3.1 million viewers were sufficient to crush the competition on Fox News and MSNBC in both total viewers and the advertiser-prized 25-54 age demographic.
More on this story via The Western Journal:
Hosting Trump in Anderson Cooper’s 8 p.m. ET hour — Carlson’s old time slot — put CNN on top.
“Fox News Tonight” attracted a mere 1.41 million total viewers, while “All In with Chris Hayes” brought in 1.37 million viewers for MSNBC. CONTINUE READING…