CNN’s Brian Stelter continues struggle to attract viewers as ‘Reliable Sources’ hits yearly low in key demo

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Media top headlines May 11

Martha MacCallum pressing a teachers union president over critical race theory and more round out today's top media headlines

CNN’s "Reliable Sources" with Brian Stelter continues to set yearly lows on a weekly basis, as the far-left media program had its worst performance of 2021 among the group most coveted by advertisers on Sunday.

Stelter’s show averaged a dismal 143,000 viewers among the key demo of adults age 25-54 on May 9, its smallest audience of the year in the category. The beleaguered "Reliable Sources" managed to pull in 829,000 total viewers, which is its second-lowest turnout of the year but up slightly from 810,000 total viewers that tuned in for the show’s smallest audience of the year on May 2.

Brian Stelter’s show averaged a dismal 143,000 viewers among the key demo of adults age 25-54 on May 9, its smallest audience of the year in the category.

Stelter’s "Reliable Sources" has now set yearly lows in the cable news industry’s two most important categories during back-to-back episodes.

CNN’S BRIAN STELTER RETURNS FROM VACATION TO HOST LOWEST-RATED ‘RELIABLE SOURCES’ OF YEAR

Fox News’ "MediaBuzz," which is Stelter’s direct timeslot competition, beat the struggling CNN program by 36 percent--averaging 1.13 million total viewers. "MediaBuzz" also topped Stelter in the demo, averaging 152,000 viewers in the category for a six percent advantage.

Stelter, who spent years criticizing former President Trump at every turn, has struggled to attract an audience since Trump left office. The most recent episode of "Reliable Sources" didn’t even outdraw the April 25 edition when replacement host John Avlon averaged 907,000.

Stelter wasn’t alone, as CNN finished May 3-9 with its lowest-rated week among both total viewers and the key demo since Dec. 2019. Fox News dominated the liberal network during that time period, averaging 1.2 million total viewers and 2.2 million primetime viewers to finish atop cable news for the 12th consecutive week.

Fox News also beat all competition among the key demo, averaging 202,000 viewers across total day and 343,000 during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET.

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CNN’s "New Day" joined Stelter among the worst performing programs, averaging only 485,000 total viewers and 119,000 among the demo for record lows in both categories. The struggling morning show has continued to embarrass the network despite a recent relaunch with new co-host Brianna Keilar.

All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.