New Ruhle, Mulvaney Factor, Hunter Hype | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room
MEDIA WINNER:
MSNBC Anchor
Stephanie Ruhle
Stephanie Ruhle is having a good first month at 11 p.m., and on Tuesday was ahead of CNN in both total viewers and in the key 25-54 demographic.
Ruhle took over The 11th Hour from Brian Williams in March. In 2021 the show was second overall in the slot in total viewers, ahead of CNN’s Don Lemon, but came in third in the demo.
But Ruhle beat Lemon on Tuesday, coming in behind Fox’s Greg Gutfeld. The 11th Hour pulled 1.03 million total viewers compared to CNN’s 546k. She also also beat him in the demo, with 162k viewers compared to his to 136k.
In fact, Ruhle was one of the only MSNBC hosts to beat the CNN time slot rival in the demo on the day.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe also beat CNN’s New Day in the demo when averaging across the three hours both shows are on-air. Morning Joe averaged 110k demo viewers, while New Day did not break 100k.
Click here for the full breakdown of Tuesday’s cable news ratings by show.
As for the three networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 category.
Total viewers:
• CNN: 675,000
• Fox News: 1.97 million
• MSNBC: 910,000
25-54 Demo:
• CNN: 158,000
• Fox News: 331,000
• MSNBC: 114,000
Here are the prime time averages— encompassing shows which air from 8-11 p.m. — in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.
Total viewers:
• CNN: 818,000
• Fox News: 2.96 million
• MSNBC: 1.45 million
25-54 Demo:
• CNN: 212,000
• Fox News: 464,000
• MSNBC: 190,000
MEDIA LOSER:
CBS News Co-President
Neeraj Khemlani
CBS News has been under sustained fire for the recent hiring of former Donald Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney as a contributor, a move attributed to co-president Neeraj Khemlani.
The hire quickly drew outrage from journalists and pundits, with many pointing out Mulvaney’s downplaying the pandemic, defending former President Donald Trump’s attempt to withhold military aid from Ukraine in exchange for dirt on the Bidens, and his bold claim in an op-ed before the 2020 election that Trump would gracefully concede if he lost.
The backlash has been brutal. And not just from the world at large, there have been internal rumblings as well. Khemlani is taking the big share of that criticism on both fronts. London bureau chief Andy Clarke, for example, reportedly took a hard swipe at Khemlani over more than just this decision, in remarks at Clarke’s going-away party.
The Mulvaney decision wasn’t isolated. To less fanfare and feedback, the network hired former Trump adviser H.R. McMaster recently. It’s a trend, the Washington Post says, based on access.
WaPo’s Jeremy Barr says the hire is part of a bigger plan to stock up on Republicans ahead of the midterms and the potential “wipeout” for Democrats.
In an audio recording of a staff meeting, Khemlani said it outright. “We know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms,” Barr quotes him. “A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
As The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, it’s not totally unheard of to pad the roster. But look, CBS News hired the guy who predicted Trump would “concede gracefully” to be an *analyst* of Republicans. For access!
That’s not even dressing it up well. And Khemlani continues to take the heat for it.
LINKS WE LIKE
Comedians On When A Joke Goes Wrong – And That Oscars Slap
– Robin Levinson-King, BBC
The Media Avoided The Ties Between Joe Biden And Hunter’s Laptop
– Miranda Devine, New York Post
Social Media Drama Can Hit Teens Hard At Different Ages
– Charlotte Hu, Popular Science
Apple and Meta Gave User Data to Hackers Who Used Forged Legal Requests
-William Turton, Bloomberg