TV Ratings: CNN Event With Biden Struggled For Viewers

What you don't see on TV: Small Audience for CNN Town Hall

CNN struggled to attract an audience for its exclusive town-hall event with President Joe Biden on Wednesday night, with the event trailing Fox News’ regular programming in ratings.

Bloomberg reports the cable news network averaged fewer than 1.5 million viewers from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Eastern, with 306,000 in the 25-54 demographic most sought by advertisers. That compared with 2.7 million for Fox News, with 464,000 in the key demographic, according to Nielsen data shared by the network.

CNN has seen ratings slide following the 2020 election and its aftermath, which riveted viewers. These days, even booking the president is no guarantee that a large audience will tune in. In total viewers, CNN trailed both Fox News and MSNBC.

At the event, broadcast from Cincinnati, Biden addressed inflation concerns, saying the problem was unlikely to get out of hand.

He also alluded to Fox News, saying, “One of those other networks is not a big fan of mine” but that it had recently shifted its stance and was promoting vaccines as a way to curb Covid-19.

Fox has maintained that its on-air talent has consistently encouraged its viewers to get the shots.