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May 23, 2024

This 'demo' has flown

By Silvio Canto, Jr.

They call it "the demo" or "the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54."  

I am no longer in that demographic, but that's for another post.

The story today is that the demo has left CNN. It's a fancy way of saying that the people who matter ain't watching.   
 
Here is the story:
 
CNN’s primetime lineup of "Anderson Cooper 360," "The Source with Kaitlan Collins," and "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip" managed only 83,000 nightly viewers in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54 from May 13-19. The dismal total tied the network’s 2023 Thanksgiving week for its smallest audience in the critical category since 1991.  
 
By comparison, Fox News programs "Jesse Watters Primetime," "Hannity," and "Gutfeld!" averaged 186,000 demo viewers to crush CNN’s audience by over 100,000 people between the ages 25-54. 
 
CNN’s primetime lineup had a smaller audience among the demo than 23 different basic cable options, including FXX, MTV, Hallmark Channel, Discovery, A&E, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, TLC, HGTV, Food Network. ESPN2, and Bravo, in addition to Fox News and MSNBC. 
 
CNN’s primetime lineup wasn’t particularly successful among total viewers, either, averaging only 484,000 total viewers compared to two million for Fox News. 
 
CNN’s historic viewership low came in the midst of former President Trump’s criminal trial as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team attempt to prove he falsified business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s buzzed-about testimony couldn’t even help CNN’s hapless primetime lineup, which has seen significant changes in recent years. 
 
Chris Cuomo was fired late in 2021, and Don Lemon was shifted to mornings before being shown the door himself in 2023. The network tinkered with various lineups before landing on the current trio of low-rated programs. 
 
The tiny audience heard Cooper admit on Thursday he would "absolutely" have doubts about Cohen’s testimony if he were on the jury after Trump’s lawyer caught him in a lie.
 
There you have it.  The demo has flown to paraphrase "Norwegian Wood."  
 
Yes, you can talk about Trump 24/7, turn the case into a modern version of the Nuremberg Trials and cheer for a conviction.  Yes, you can do, but nobody is watching because the brand is so sick that the demo has flown to watch something else.
 
Honestly, I thought that CNN had learned its lesson after losing its audience following 2020.  I guess that management still has a few more faces or producers to replace.
 
 
Image: Logo, via Wikimedia Commons // public domain
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