Flashback: Ted Koppel Tells Brian Stelter in 2018, Your ‘Ratings Would Be in the Toilet Without Donald Trump’
CNN let go of Brian Stelter on Thursday after a nine-year run hosting its Sunday media-themed show, Reliable Sources. He will host one last episode this weekend before the network terminates the show.
Like much of CNN’s programming, Reliable Sources has struggled in the ratings in a media landscape where Donald Trump is no longer in the White House. The former president was (and remains) a political and cultural lightning rod. As a result, he was a boon to cable news.
During a discussion at a National Press Club event in 2018, Stelter sparred with former Nightline host Ted Koppel, who rendered a fairly blunt opinion.
“He has been wonderful for the industry,” Koppel said of Trump’s effect on the news business. He then turned to Stelter and said, “Your boss acknowledged as much a number of months ago during the campaign.”
“But that means, what?” Stelter asked. “If ratings are up, that means what?”
“It means you can’t do without Donald Trump,” Koppel replied. “You would be lost without Donald Trump.”
“Ted, you know that’s not true,” Stelter protested.
“Hold on a second,” Koppel shot back. “CNN’s ratings would be in the toilet without Donald Trump.”
The audience laughed as Stelter reiterated, “You know that’s not true. You’re playing for laughs.”
Koppel pressed on.
“What were the ratings before Trump and what are the ratings now?” Koppel asked.
“I would say we might be up 20, we might be up 30%,” Stelter replied. “We might be up 40% If we go back down 40%, that’s ok too.”
The CNN host seemed genuinely offended.
“I reject the premise that these networks are making so much money off of Trump and thus we benefit from it,” he continued. ”
“Let’s get away from CNN,” Koppel replied. “Sensitive subject.” He then pointed out that MSNBC was also covering Trump nearly nonstop.
CNN’s ratings have largely decreased since the end of the Trump presidency, so Reliable Sources is hardly an outlier. The show regularly posts the best numbers among the network’s weekend offerings.
As Fox News noted last year, the program, “has failed to attract one million viewers for 11 straight weeks and averaged only 752,000 on Sunday for its smallest audience of 2021.” It should be pointed out that not even Fox News was spared a post-Trump ratings decline last year, though CNN has been hit particularly hard.
