Long-struggling CNN had its smallest Tuesday audience in 24 years this week among the demographic most coveted by advertisers.
CNN averaged only 61,000 viewers from the critical demographic of adults age 25-54 on November 11, its smallest audience on a Tuesday since June 27, 2000, when former President Bill Clinton resided in the White House.
CNN also had its worst turnout during daytime programming in a decade on Tuesday, as the struggling network managed only 60,000 average demo viewers from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. ET for its worst non-holiday weekday rating since 2014.
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CNN has failed to gain viewers despite President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The news has barely slowed up since Trump made history by becoming just the second president ever to win non-consecutive terms, with Harris' concession, breaking stories about his Cabinet picks and the ugly Democratic Party blame game driving the cycle.
But the nonstop flow of breaking news hasn’t helped CNN.
Since Election Day, CNN averaged only 403,000 total day viewers compared to 2.2 million for Fox News. CNN has even a smaller share of the cable news audience during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, as the struggling network has managed only 483,000 total viewers since Election Day compared to 3.4 million for Fox News.
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When it comes to the key demo, CNN has averaged only 86,000 critical today day viewers compared to 321,000 for Fox News. During primetime, CNN has averaged 112,000 demo viewers compared to 496,000 for Fox News.
CNN didn’t perform particularly well on election night, either. The struggling network had a smaller audience from 8-11 p.m. ET than Fox News Channel, MSNBC, ABC and NBC for coverage of the biggest news event of the year.
The ratings issues come as CNN staffers brace for significant budget cuts and layoffs that are likely to affect the entire network in coming months.