CNN prime time drops in ratings as prime time spot beaten by Newsmax for the first time

CNN suffered a humiliating ratings drop during Friday night’s prime time spot when it was first beaten by fledgling rival Newsmax.

The cable channel was beaten by the conservative station from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in every slot. Star anchor Anderson Cooper garnered just 447,000 viewers for his flagship 360 show — 20,000 less than Eric Bolling, formerly of Fox News.

Cooper’s new Friday night show at 9 p.m., The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper, was even more off the charts with 293,000 tuning in. That compares to the 325,000 Chris Plante, an ex-Pentagon Correspondent for CNN, watched on Newsmax.

In the 10 p.m. slot, Chris Wallace — the former Fox host who voted for the Democrats — had just 263,000 viewers, compared to Greg Kelly who secured an audience of 278,000.

CNN averaged 325,000 primetime viewers, while Newsmax averaged 357,000 viewers. The liberal news channel is now being beaten by a cable station that only started broadcasting in 2014. Meanwhile, longtime rival Fox averaged 1.44 million primetime viewers and MSNBC 1.08 million.

The cable channel was slammed by the conservative channel from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in every prime time slot. Star anchor Anderson Cooper amassed just 447,000 viewers for his flagship 360 show — 20,000 fewer than Eric Bolling, formerly of Fox News

In the 25-54 age group, which is important for networks for ad revenue, CNN did better but lagged its major rivals.

The channel owned by Warner Bros Discovery averaged 87,000 viewers. Fox led with 109,000 viewers, MSNBC was second with 98,000 and Newsmax followed with 45,000.

After 9 p.m., no CNN show managed to cross the 300,000 viewer threshold.

Meanwhile, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Greg Gutfield all averaged at least 1.4 million.

Gutfield won Fox the best ratings of the day with 1.7 million viewers between 11 p.m. and midnight for his self-titled comedy panel show.

On MSNBC, the day’s heaviest hit came well ahead of prime time at 5 p.m. with Ari Ambler’s The Beat at 1.4 million viewers. Alex Wagner’s show at 9 p.m. was the strongest primetime show with an audience of 1.2 million.

It comes after CNN saw its best ratings in years last week when it hosted Donald Trump’s town hall.

The channel had 3.3 million viewers in its 8pm slot last Thursday. In the key demographic of 25-54, ratings rose to 781,000 – five times the average.

The blockbuster ratings were what CNN boss Chris Licht, whose job was to change the network, was hoping for.

Until Tucker Carlson’s sudden departure last month, 3 million viewers was a regular overnight audience for Fox.

Ratings have plummeted in his absence.

But CNN staffers like media reporter Oliver Darcy despaired of Trump’s city hall, calling it a “spectacle of lies” and furious at Licht for the decision.

The audience was double that of Fox and MSNBC in the same hour, making a mockery of the 473,000 average CNN came in in March of this year

CNN boss Chris Licht took over last year and vowed to clear the network of its prejudices. He has been criticized for giving Trump a platform

Some unnamed employees told outlets like Rolling Stone that it was a “f*****g shame” so intense was their distaste for Light and the decision.

Unfazed by their anger, Licht praised moderator Kaitlan Collins, warning detractors, “You don’t have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say we didn’t understand them.

While we may all have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story because the people in that audience represent a large part of America.

The mistake the media has made in the past is to ignore that those people exist, just as you can’t ignore that President Trump exists.

“I believe absolutely unequivocally that America has been very well served by what we did last night.”

CNN’s ratings have plummeted since last year. In March, viewership in prime-time hours dropped 61 percent.