CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper has lost 75 percent of it’s audience since January.
Former President Donald Trump has responded to the plunge, calling it a “wonderful thing to see!”
If I had incited and inspired a deadly insurrection and attempt to undo American democracy I might not be out there bragging about how many viewers it had. On any channel.
But maybe that’s just me, I’m a different breed of cat. https://t.co/6tE6pC3B74
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 29, 2021
“CNN ratings are down 70%. MSDNC is also way down. Actually, they are ALL way down. They say the news is ‘boring’ since I left D.C. Morning Joe, Joy Reid (whoever that is?), Nicole Wallace, Jake Tapper, and even Chris Wallace, at Fox, in free fall. A wonderful thing to see!” Trump wrote.
Tapper responded to the jab from Trump on Twitter, writing “if I had incited and inspired a deadly insurrection and attempt to undo American democracy I might not be out there bragging about how many viewers it had. On any channel.”
“But maybe that’s just me, I’m a different breed of cat,” Tapper added.
If I had incited and inspired a deadly insurrection and attempt to undo American democracy I might not be out there bragging about how many viewers it had. On any channel.
But maybe that’s just me, I’m a different breed of cat. https://t.co/6tE6pC3B74
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 29, 2021
Matt Dornic, CNN’s head of strategic communications, threw any attempt at appearing non-biased out the window with his response.
“Imagine that. People are vaccinated, no longer terrified, and out enjoying their lives. If the trade-off is that every news net’s ratings are down, I’ll take it,” Dornic tweeted.
Imagine that. People are vaccinated, no longer terrified, and out enjoying their lives. If the trade-off is that every news net’s ratings are down, I’ll take it.
— Matt Dornic (@mdornic) June 29, 2021
Your World with Neil Cavuto, which airs on Fox News at the same time, has not experienced a similar sudden drop in interest.
Fox News reports that Tapper’s program averaged 2.8 million viewers in January but settled for only 706,000 in the 4 p.m. ET timeslot from May 31 through June 23, losing three-quarters of its audience in the process. Tapper’s second-quarter viewership is down 49% compared to the first quarter.
“Tapper has also lost significant viewers among the key news demographic of adults age 25-54, dropping 79% of January’s audience during the first three weeks of June in his timeslot,” the report states. “Tapper’s show is down 47% in the second quarter compared to Q1 among the category most coveted by advertisers.”
“CNN averaged a dismal 654,000 viewers during the second quarter. By comparison, Fox News averaged 1.2 million during the same time period to finish No. 1 in all of basic cable. CNN failed to crack the one-million viewer threshold during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET,” Fox also noted.
Despite the ratings tanking, CNN gave Tapper an extra hour beginning in April — expanding the failing show from 4-6 p.m.
CNN has often tried to bill Tapper as a “fair and balanced” old school non-partisan anchor, but his constant attacks on Republicans are impossible to ignore.
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