Chris Cuomo’s return to prime time in his NewsNation debut drew in just 147,000 viewers
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Chris Cuomo’s return to prime time television got off to a horror start when the disgraced presenter finished last in the ratings by a huge margin.
The 52-year-old drew just 147,000 viewers to his eponymous show on NewsNation, which first aired Monday night.
Crucially, he also amassed just 8,000 of the 25-54 demographic during the coveted 8pm time.
He followed heavy hitters like Tucker Carlson, Chris Hayes and Anderson Cooper as their shows brought in hundreds of thousands and even millions more.
Chris Cuomo’s return to prime time television got off to a horror start when the disgraced anchor came last in the ratings by a huge margin
Crucially, he also took in just 8,000 of the 25-54 demographic during the coveted 8pm time
Cuomo’s new show at 8 p.m. debuted with guests like John Bolton, Dan Liever and Bill Maher.
He spoke of immigration as an issue being highlighted in the US to sow a deeper division between right and left.
He also told viewers that he had “learned lessons” and was “humiliated by what happened with his resignation from CNN.
And he said he was hungry to do better than before, promising to “do more not just play the game, or even referee.”
Meanwhile, Maher came to say that as a comedian it is usually easier to ridicule the right than the left.
He shared how he still mocked Sarah Palin because it was and is “easier” but there was an “equivalent of madness” these days.
The program represents Cuomo’s return to the world of prime time news coverage and commentary since he was fired last December.
Chris Cuomo speaks to Bill Maher on the newly constructed set at the NewsNation studios on 42nd Street on Monday
Meanwhile, Fox News’ Carlson gained 2.875 million viewers as he spoke about the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline.
He also lashed out at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for being a “puppet” for the Democratic party.
His show drew a whopping 20 times as many viewers as Cuomo’s, despite being the former CNN man’s opening night.
Elsewhere, MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes came in second with 1.403 million viewers and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 came in third with 814,000.
Hayes dived into black America and had Trymaine Lee talk candidly about his experience as a young man.
He also criticized right-wing leaders and grouped Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro together as “incompetent.”
Newsmax’s The Balance hosted by Eric Bolling attracted 151,000 viewers, a few thousand more than Cuomo who received 147,000.
Meanwhile, Fox News’ Carlson gained 2.875 million viewers as he spoke about the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 came in third with 814,000 viewers Monday night as it still struggles to compete with Carlson on Fox News
Elsewhere MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes came in second with 1.403 million viewers (pictured)
Cuomo’s new show comes after he was fired from CNN last December for helping his brother Andrew evade allegations of sexual harassment.
An investigation by a New York attorney general revealed that he had called journalists in an attempt to identify his brother’s accusers.
He is suing the company for $125 million in unpaid wages and damage to his character, it was reported in March.
Cuomo has admitted in the past that his return to a smaller channel will be, and told podcast host Kara Swisher last week that he knew his new show would be a step back.
That reality was reflected in his new-year salary of $1 million, the New York Post reported, significantly less than the $6 million he made at CNN.
While working at CNN, Cuomo also enjoyed a generous travel allowance, flying between Manhattan and his home in the Hamptons.
It’s not clear what kind of compensation he’ll get from NewsNation, which has built him a studio to host the show in town on 42nd Street.
“I helped him in ways I thought reasonable,” said Chris Cuomo, right, of helping his brother Andrew, left, defend himself against sexual harassment allegations
New York Magazine editor Swisher asked Cuomo how his resignation from CNN made him unfit for having already landed a new job
Cuomo’s CNN show Cuomo Primetime was the highest-rated prime time news show in 2019 and 2020. It averaged 2 million nightly viewers in 2020. The channel was doing better then than it is now.
Cuomo became a prominent figure for his coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the show would feature segments with his brother Andrew Cuomo, who was governor of New York at the time and led the state’s fight against the virus.
But after allegations of sexual misconduct led to his older brother dying in late 2021, he was fired from CNN not long after.
NewsNation is an underdog of the news channels, having averaged 46,000 prime-time viewers last year, the Washington Post reported.
Launched in September 2020 by Nextar Media Group, the fledgling channel was intended to be unbiased and neutral, seeking a viewership in the middle of the political spectrum.
Since its full launch last year, NewsNation has failed to capture an audience there.
Nevertheless, Cuomo drew more than three times as much on Monday night, but now faces a challenge if he is to stay relevant after the blow he took last December.
Insiders have suggested that if Cuomo can consistently pull 100,000 viewers per show, NewsNation executives will find his salary more than worth the money.