A highly controversial “town hall” appearance Wednesday evening on CNN by former President Donald Trump averaged 3.122 million total viewers and 703,000 viewers in the coveted adults 25-54 demo, according to NextTV.com citing Nielsen data provided by the network.
That performance was good enough to trounce cable news rivals Fox News Channel and MSNBC in primetime — a feat ratings-starved CNN hasn't done too much of regularly.
CNN noted that the 2024 presidential hopeful's Wednesday night performance generated the second biggest audience for a single-candidate town hall since 2016, trailing only a Joe Biden appearance in September 2020, which averaged 3.465 million viewers.
However, critics said the viewership was modest, especially compared to the cable news audiences Trump generated during his frequent appearances in the run-up to his successful 2016 presidential bid.
In the words of media business pundit and former CNN on-air figure Brian Stelter, "These are not 2015/16 level numbers for Trump — not even close."
 |
| Nielsen figures |
Also communicating on Twitter, current CNN analyst and former New York Times media reported Bill Carter added, "Has to be considered surprising (stunning?) result given both previous Trump ratings power + massive build-up."
Notably, the pay TV ecosystem within which CNN lives was about 25% bigger eight years ago, but there were other factors.
Carter suggested that CNN's core audience just doesn't favor Trump. He also mentioned this possible factor: "Trump TV magic is gone."
Notably, the pay TV ecosystem within which CNN lives was about 25% bigger eight years ago, but there were other factors.
Carter suggested that CNN's core audience just doesn't favor Trump. He also mentioned this possible factor: "Trump TV magic is gone."
No comments:
Post a Comment