CNN called out for using out-of-date story to hide ratings collapse: 'Can't get more fake news than that'

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CNN’s website was called out as "fake" on for misleading viewers about the network’s ratings collapse by running a three-month old story touting the liberal network’s brief post-election spike.

CNN has been hemorrhaging viewers since President Biden took office, with ratings down more than 50 percent in multiple categories since Inauguration Day – but anyone who relies on CNN’s media team would be clueless about the staggering drop.

CNN HAS SHED MORE THAN HALF ITS VIEWERS SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE, DOWN STAGGERING 60 PERCENT IN KEY DEMO

CNN’s media page, which is constantly updated, featured a story from Jan. 16 by in-house media pundit Brian Stelter boasting the network’s ratings were "soaring" amid a realignment in TV news. The three-month old story occupied key real estate on CNN’s media page, even getting a photograph to accompany the story placed next to recently updated top stories.

CNN’s website was called out on for misleading viewers about the network’s ratings collapse by running a three-month old story touting the liberal network’s brief post-election spike. (istock)

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The out-of-date analysis claims CNN’s ratings were surging to historic levels, but it doesn’t inform readers the network has since taken a nosedive.

CNN averaged 2.2 million viewers during the first three weeks of 2021, but it has averaged just one million viewers since Biden took office, a decline of 54 percent.

CNN’s struggles are even more prominent among the key advertising demographic of adults age 25-54, with a drop of 60 percent. It averaged 617,000 demo viewers from Dec. 28 through Inauguration Day but only 244,000 since Biden entered the White House, a few days after Stelter wrote the now-stale piece.

CNN editors have updated the page, as a Monday segment on the network’s morning show is among the other stories prominently covered. But the out-of-date ratings piece remained, and RealClearPolitics founder Tom Bevan called CNN out.

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"CNN media page (i.e. the page where all Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy's work appears) still featuring a story from January 16 touting their 'soaring' ratings vs. Fox's 'sagging' ratings," Bevan wrote. "Can't get more fake news than that!"

Fox News is on pace to be the most-watched cable news network for the second month in a row among both total day and primetime viewers.

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.