CNN has been struggling in the ratings lately, as it dropped 42% among viewers 25-54 back in February, its lowest level in a decade.
The reason for CNN’s struggles is often attributed to political polarization. While the network likes to tout itself as neutral, conservatives tend to view CNN as liberal-leaning, and turn to Fox News or OANN instead. Whereas many progressives view CNN as too middle-of-the-road and opt instead for MSNBC, or just reading the news instead of watching it.
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In theory, there should be a market for a national news source that purports to be just-the-facts, etc. But American politics is increasingly polarized in the 21st century, and what you watch is very often an expression of your political identity.
Following last year’s merger that resulted in the new company Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) new CEO David Zazlav has been attempting to reconfigure the network. He’s indicated, according to the Guardian, that he “wants to reel in a perceived left-leaning political bias in CNN’s coverage,” which was estimated to mean a reduction in talking head pundits and more of a focus on straight news.
He installed CNN’s chairman and CEO, Chris Licht, a former late night showrunner for Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” in order to accomplish the course correction. But the changes came at a difficult time for the company, one in which Zaslav was determined to find ways to cut WBD’s budget, all while the company continued to deal with the public relations nightmare that is Chris Cuomo, who was fired in 2021 for allegedly helping shield his brother, Andrew Cuomo, from sexual harassment allegations.
But so far the changes haven’t had the intended effect of stopping CNN’s rating slide, as last year the company made less than $1 billion in profit for the first time since 2016. But Zaslav has too much invested in the brand to give up on CNN, so the company has now announced some new on-air talent.
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CNN Adds Fresh Blood
Gayle King, a long-time journalist and America’s Best Friend, is in talks to join CNN with a weekly primetime show, according to The Wall Street Journal.
King is expected to join “CNN Primetime,” a 9 p.m. program that launched in February and featured interviews with Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky and First Lady Jill Biden. The program was one of Licht’s first experiments, but so far it has not been a ratings hit, as the network is set to average 535,000 primetime viewers for the first quarter as of March 24, a 35% from a year ago.
Additionally, NBA legend Charles Barkley is said to also be in talks with CNN about potentially joining a show with King.
