If you still aren’t a believer in the death of traditional mainstream media, perhaps the fact that one of the giants of the old guard, CNN, is quickly sinking like the Titanic after hitting an ice berg known as President-elect Donald J. Trump. You see, people are going with independent news sources, podcasts, and YouTube rather than getting their information from CNN or MSNBC.
Just how much of a hit has CNN taken since Trump pulled off a massive victory in last week’s election? Well, their ratings have gone down 94 percent, according to the Daily Mail.
Ouch. That’s definitely some deep bleeding of viewership. One has to wonder if they will be able to recover. I don’t think so. I think this election was a referendum on left-wing media sources and the mainstream media as a whole. The technology has finally hit a level that allows folks to independently gather their information without media bias. There’s no going back now.
In 2016, CNN ranked as the most-watched cable news network, with an average of 13.3 million prime-time viewers. Remarkably, that number now stands at only around 800,000 — a decline of 93.99 percent. CNN’s 2024 election night ratings highlighted the decline. On Nov. 5, the network drew only 5.1 million viewers compared to 6 million for establishment rival MSNBC. Prime-time titan Fox News ranked first with 10.3 million viewers.
Thus, it came as no surprise last week when a report surfaced that CNN plans massive layoffs, including on-air talent.CNN, of course, continues to employ notorious Trump-haters such as Jim Acosta and Jake Tapper. Reliable establishment shills Anderson Cooper, Dana Bash and Kaitlan Collins also call the network home. At $20 million per year, Cooper’s salary dwarfs that of the younger Collins, who rakes in only $3 million.
At this point in the journey, CNN’s new CEO, Mark Thompson, has a lot of really hard calls to make if he wants to see the company survive. Should the network as a whole continue to fight Trump, which has been nothing but a losing battle for them? Or does it choose a different path and bring on a wider variety of voices that appeal to more people?
The network already has conservative-leaning host Scott Jennings who has emerged as a successful pundit on the network. Will CNN actually bring folks like that on board? Probably not. Even if they do, viewers — the liberal ones that make up most of their viewing audience — will just shift over to MSNBC.
With that in mind, CNN will probably continue to hate on Trump and pursue the same course they are on now, which will ultimately lead to the company’s destruction.
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