Staff Reports
CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast has officially taken a nosedive into the ratings abyss, with the network’s 11 p.m. hour on December 31, 2024, drawing its smallest audience since 2019. The latest Nielsen numbers, which were kindly dissected by the Washington Examiner, point to a grim conclusion for the once-dominant news giant. A paltry 1.88 million viewers tuned in to watch the evening’s festivities hosted by the dynamic duo of Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper. Apparently, the parties in Times Square were less appealing than a rerun of a cooking show.
The decline in CNN’s viewership paints a picture of a network struggling to hold onto its audience. This year, they faced a monumental 20% drop from 2023, particularly slumping in the all-important 25-54 age demographic by an even sharper 22%. One can only assume that viewers are increasingly tuning out the rhetoric and drama that CNN is more than willing to dish out, in favor of something a little more… shall we say, celebratory. Coupled with a staggering 52% decrease in prime-time viewership, it’s clear the network is ringing in the New Year with a lot less fanfare.
🚨🇺🇸'EXHAUSTED' AMERICA TUNES OUT CABLE NEWS AS RATINGS CRASH 50%
NYT columnist unleashes brutal reality check: Americans are over the political drama.
Progressive networks' ratings have plunged since November – CNN down 46%, MSNBC hemorrhaging 55% of viewers.
"I'm thrilled,"… https://t.co/MYUVbGC45c pic.twitter.com/KYBwibkGSn
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 30, 2024
Contrasting CNN’s gloomy results, the competition was more than happy to put their party hats on. Fox News, for one, celebrated another year at the top. The network has cemented its place as cable’s most-watched channel for nine consecutive years, delighting conservatives across the nation. Its prime-time program, The Five, led the New Year’s Eve ratings with an impressive 2.3 million viewers. Clearly, viewers prefer commentary that doesn’t involve a countdown to disaster but rather an informed perspective on the events of the day.
MSNBC also didn’t fare well, joining CNN in the ratings plunge with a staggering 61% drop in its 25-54 demographic. With just 54,000 viewers in that age group, the network appears to have hit a low that even its best spin couldn’t gloss over. Perhaps there’s a lesson buried in these numbers: audiences might be tired of hearing the same old liberal narratives and have chosen to steer clear of networks that preach instead of report.
NewsNation has been climbing the ranks of cable news, managing a commendable 25% rise in overall prime-time viewership and a whopping 45% increase in the coveted 25-54 age group. As more viewers flock to alternative sources for news, the decline of CNN and MSNBC could well serve as a cautionary tale for cable networks that ignore what their audience truly wants. When the clock struck midnight, it was clear that a new year lived up to its promise—one that could potentially leave the old guard behind.
