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The ratings-challenged CNN’s latest stunt didn’t help draw additional viewers.
The liberal network revealed the lineups for its upcoming Democratic debates on Thursday with a highly publicized, widely panned live drawing. CNN finished behind Fox News and MSNBC during the draw from 8-9 p.m. ET, in both total viewers and the key demographic of adults age 25-54, despite the network reminding viewers of the drawing throughout the day with an on-screen countdown clock.
CNN MIRED IN A CREDIBILITY CRISIS AS RATINGS CONTINUE TO COLLAPSE, EXPERTS SAY
CNN revealed the lineups for its upcoming Democratic debates on Thursday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
CNN averaged a tad over 1 million viewers during the event, compared to 3.2 million for Fox News and 1.7 million for MSNBC’s regular programming during the same period. CNN’s lottery-style drawing averaged only 223,000 viewers among the demo, compared to 497,000 for Fox News and 239,000 for MSNBC, according to early Nielsen ratings.
During the "draw" special, the 20 eligible candidates were split between three tiers and then divided among the tiers. Three CNN hosts then randomly selected each candidate and the night they'd appear on from two sets of boxes, one that had the candidates and one that had the debate nights.
This was meant to prevent an uneven spread of candidates, which took place with the NBC debates, but the viewers it managed to attract largely panned the event. Slate writer Ashley Feinberg said it the "stupidest thing I've ever seen" while others like journalist Yashar Ali joked that he had accidentally switched to the "Game Show Network."
The New York Times even mocked the event with a subhead, “CNN’s hourlong debate-lineup revelation had the appearance of a Powerball drawing and just as much depth.”
THIS IS CNN? PRIMETIME SHOWS FILLED WITH LIBERAL OPINION, NOT STRAIGHT NEWS AS NETWORK CLAIMS
The paper’s chief television critic James Poniewozik asked, “Is it any surprise that CNN, the home of saturation coverage and interminable countdown clocks, would try to wring more airtime out of the debates?”
CNN’s drawing didn’t help the network’s overall viewership for the evening, either. CNN averaged 962,000 primetime viewers compared to 3.1 million for Fox News and 2.1 million for MSNBC.
CNN, which was criticized for giving airtime to white nationalist Richard Spencer earlier in the week, has had ongoing issues attracting viewers during primetime. It finished the second quarter of 2019 ranked No. 15 among basic cable channels, averaging only 761,000 prime-time viewers and finishing behind channels including the Food Network.
CNN's Dana Bash, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper will serve as moderators for the debates later this month.
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