CNN's Prime-Time Ratings Dip Under New Leadership

CNN's ratings have declined under new leadership, reports The Daily Beast.  

The network averaged just 480,000 viewers during the week of the Jan. 6 committee hearings from June 13 to 19, CNN's worst rating week since November 2015, down 13% from its May averages.

CNN's new boss, Chris Licht, who took over at the beginning of May, earlier this year made it clear that he wanted the network to dial down the prime-time partisanship and double down on newsgathering – CNN's footprint includes 11 U.S. bureaus and 28 internationally.

In early June he also sent employees a memo about CNN adding a "Breaking News" guideline to its stylebook to address overuse of the breaking news banner across its network.

Speaking to potential advertisers a few weeks after his takeover, Licht pledged that CNN would "seek to go a different way" during a time "where extremes are dominating cable news."

But less people are tuning in.

CNN's primetime lineup attracted just 654,000 total viewers and 148,000 in the key advertising demographic of viewers aged 25-54 — a 1-percent decline in both categories from May, according to the news outlet.

CNN said the Daily Beast's premise for its story was "unfair and inaccurate."

"The only 'sweeping change' to programming in the past 60 days was a directive to be more selective about use of the breaking news banner. It would be absurd for anyone to expect that move alone to have an impact on ratings," a spokesperson told The Daily Beast after the article was published.

• CNN: Growing Talk of Hillary for 2024
• New CNN Boss Weighs Ousting Too-Partisan Hosts in Policy Shift