It's A Lemon Drop: 'CNN This Morning' Tanks

CNN’s new morning show co-hosted by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins bombed in its debut episode on Tuesday, reports The NY Post.

Despite heavy promotion from the network, “CNN This Morning’s” first show drew a mere 387,000 viewers and averaged 71,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen ratings.

By comparison, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” amassed 793,000 viewers head to head from 6 to 9 am ET. Meanwhile, Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” came out on top, averaging nearly 1.5 million viewers.

No show across CNN, MSNBC and Fox News ranked lower than Lemon’s program on Tuesday.

Dubbed “CNN This Morning,” the broadcast was pitched as the left-leaning network’s re-entry into the competitive morning show landscape, and was heralded by Lemon as a “promotion” amid reports that he was being demoted. The anchor had been moved from his now-canceled 10 p.m. primetime show to share the spotlight with two other hosts.

Despite big promises from CNN boss Chris Licht, who is known for his prowess in revamping morning programming, “CNN This Morning” even failed to match the previous average of “New Day,” the show it replaced. Co-hosted by John Berman and Brianna Keilar, “New Day” averaged 404,000 viewers in October.

When asked about the poor debut, a spokesman from CNN said: “There’s not a morning show on television today that was a ratings success on day one."