Despite All-Star Hosts and Big Promotion, ‘CNN This Morning’ Sees Lackluster Ratings Debut

Alex GriffingNov 2nd, 2022, 4:27 pm
 

CNN This Morning

CNN’s new morning show, CNN This Morning, officially launched on Nov. 1st to brutally lackluster ratings.

Despite considerable promotion and an all-star trio of new hosts, the debut of the new show was actually down from the recent average of New Day, its ratings-challenged predecessor.

CNN This Morning on Tuesday drew 387,000 total viewers and 71,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic.

That was down from the 404,000 total viewers and 78,000 demo viewers CNN’s New Day averaged in October. CNN This Morning replaced New Day, which long struggled in the ratings since it was created by former CNN boss Jeff Zucker in 2013, never reaching the audience of its rivals, Morning Joe on MSNBC and Fox & Friends on MSNBC.

This Morning’s debut marks a rough start for the program as it was doubled by its MSNBC competition and more than tripled by Fox & Friends.

Fox & Friends ended October by prolonging its winning streak as the most-watched morning show on cable news to consecutive months – in both the demo and total viewers.

Fox & Friends averaged 1.4 million total viewers in October and 211,000 demo viewers. Morning Joe, meanwhile, averaged 883,000 total viewers and 100,000 in the demo.

The network’s new boss Chris Licht — who has a track record of success with morning shows — made reimagining the ratings-beleaguered breakfast program his first priority when he took the reins earlier this year. Licht even moved network star Lemon out of prime time to create the new hosting team.

While Licht has kept ratings expectations low for the new program, CNN heavily promoted the show before its launch and touted its new early morning star power. The new morning show co-hosts Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins joked on Tuesday morning about their new very early morning schedule and made clear that the show would be a mix of news, entertainment, and culture as billed by the network.

Here is a full breakdown of Tuesday’s cable news ratings by show:

Total Viewers (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1115		 CNN THIS MORNING:
297		 MORNING JOE:
793		 ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE:
23		 EARLY MORNING:
5
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1520		 CNN THIS MORNING:
356		 — WAKE UP AMERICA:
131		 MORNING IN AMERICA:
30
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1720		 CNN THIS MORNING:
508		 — — —
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
1778		 CNN NEWSROOM:
510		 MORNING JOE:
882		 NATIONAL REPORT:
211		 —
10a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
1749		 CNN NEWSROOM:
614		 JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS:
659		 — NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES:
18
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
1828		 AT THIS HOUR:
568		 MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE:
606		 — —
12p OUTNUMBERED:
1876		 INSIDE POLITICS:
570		 ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
607		 JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
151		 BLUE BLOODS:
77
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
1648		 CNN NEWSROOM:
598		 CHRIS JANSING REPORTS:
610		 — BLUE BLOODS:
151
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
1494		 CNN NEWSROOM:
628		 KATY TUR REPORTS:
695		 AMERICAN AGENDA:
187		 BLUE BLOODS:
182
3p STORY, THE:
1438		 CNN NEWSROOM:
601		 HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS:
687		 — BLUE BLOODS:
248
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
1548		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
588		 DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
1325		 CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
230		 BLUE BLOODS:
302
5p FIVE, THE:
3639		 SITUATION ROOM:
586		 — SPICER & CO:
196		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
99
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
2870		 SITUATION ROOM:
627		 BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
1372		 RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS:
265		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
63
7p JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME:
3418		 ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
613		 REIDOUT:
1281		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
278		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
66
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
3571		 ANDERSON COOPER 360:
637		 ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES:
1299		 ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
185		 CUOMO:
66
9p HANNITY:
3002		 CNN TONIGHT:
504		 ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT:
1259		 PRIME NEWS:
148		 DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
76
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
2471		 CNN TONIGHT:
397		 LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
1313		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
230		 BANFIELD:
45
11p GUTFELD!:
2398		 CNN TONIGHT:
336		 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
887		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
133		 CUOMO:
65

25-54 Demo (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
203		 CNN THIS MORNING:
46		 MORNING JOE:
114		 ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE:
8		 EARLY MORNING:
2
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
258		 CNN THIS MORNING:
70		 — WAKE UP AMERICA:
24		 MORNING IN AMERICA:
4
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
246		 CNN THIS MORNING:
97		 — — —
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
229		 CNN NEWSROOM:
83		 MORNING JOE:
116		 NATIONAL REPORT:
46		 —
10a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
201		 CNN NEWSROOM:
93		 JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS:
72		 — NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES:
2
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
222		 AT THIS HOUR:
103		 MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE:
84		 — —
12p OUTNUMBERED:
215		 INSIDE POLITICS:
104		 ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
67		 JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
41		 BLUE BLOODS:
11
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
204		 CNN NEWSROOM:
111		 CHRIS JANSING REPORTS:
73		 — BLUE BLOODS:
27
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
174		 CNN NEWSROOM:
119		 KATY TUR REPORTS:
79		 AMERICAN AGENDA:
30		 BLUE BLOODS:
22
3p STORY, THE:
178		 CNN NEWSROOM:
114		 HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS:
71		 — BLUE BLOODS:
34
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
182		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
110		 DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
127		 CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
34		 BLUE BLOODS:
42
5p FIVE, THE:
378		 SITUATION ROOM:
101		 — SPICER & CO:
34		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
11
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
332		 SITUATION ROOM:
131		 BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
141		 RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS:
33		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
9
7p JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME:
421		 ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
120		 REIDOUT:
183		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
30		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
8
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
578		 ANDERSON COOPER 360:
144		 ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES:
159		 ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
23		 CUOMO:
16
9p HANNITY:
395		 CNN TONIGHT:
114		 ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT:
117		 PRIME NEWS:
8		 DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
11
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
352		 CNN TONIGHT:
87		 LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
116		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
16		 BANFIELD:
3
11p GUTFELD!:
396		 CNN TONIGHT:
60		 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
89		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
9		 CUOMO:
13
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Alex Griffing - Senior Editor

Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing