Fox News Channel is losing the primetime ratings for the key demographic to CNN partly because it has fallen over itself to cover Donald Trump, writes
Joe Cunningham at Red State.
According to a press release
from CNN last week, the network beat Fox during primetime in the key demographic of 25-54-year-olds for April – the fifth month it did so out of the last eight.
"The last time CNN had this many prime time wins in an eight-month period versus Fox News was over 14 years ago (Nov. 2001)," CNN noted.
CNN also saw the most growth of any television network on cable or broadcast both with total viewers and adults 25-54, CNN said, adding that included a triple-digit increase in prime time.
"Of particular note, CNN has narrowed the gap with Fox News (196k vs. Fox News’ 215k) to its smallest level (-9%) in over seven years (since October, 2008) in Today Day among adults 25-54," the press release said.
Cunningham at Red State cited two reasons viewers are switching from Fox to CNN: Fox is seen as pro-Trump, while CNN is bringing in more conservative commentators.
"Fox News has decided to cater to a (very) vocal minority in exchange for a brief boost in ratings," Cunningham writes. Though host Sean Hannity brags about his own show's 40 percent ratings increase, the overall numbers at Fox are not as good, he said.
"[T]hey are falling in a bad way," Cunningham says. "And, while the Trump supporters would love to tell you that it is because Fox News isn’t kowtowing to Trump enough, the reality of the situation is a lot simpler: They’ve alienated the legions of conservatives who turned into them to see news."
CNN, on the other hand has been "accumulating various right-leaning commentators of actual quality, and really kicked it up this election cycle," he said.
CNN's commentary is more balanced than conservatives normally would expect, Cunningham argued, a sentiment echoed by conservative radio talk show host
Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday.
The conservatives on CNN "are not laughed at, made fun of, and hooted and hollered off the set," Limbaugh said. "They are treated as coequals. It's never been done on CNN."
Cunningham agreed, saying, "CNN is still not perfect, and I don’t expect it to conform to my political views, but I find it much more tolerable."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.