Once the titan of cable news, CNN is currently grappling with a historic collapse in primetime viewership, with its audience eroding by nearly two-thirds over the last ten years.
&#8220;The decrease, from roughly 1.3 million in 2016 to 553,000 now, is fueling rumors of a possible network sale,&#8221; The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/media/article-15549985/cnn-ratings-viewers-decline.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_dailymailus">reported</a>.
The downward trajectory is even more stark when examining specific windows of time. While CNN experienced a substantial ratings spike during Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 rise, those gains have not only evaporated but have reversed into a deep deficit. In the all-important 25-54 age demographic — the group most coveted by advertisers — the numbers are particularly grim. By early 2025, CNN had slumped to just 118,000 primetime viewers in this category.
The decay is not limited to the evenings. Daytime programming, once propelled by stalwarts such as Wolf Blitzer, has seen its audience decline from 752,000 to 433,000. Compared with the same period in 2021, the network has experienced a 71% drop in primetime and a 73% decline during the day.
This ratings freefall has occurred against a backdrop of executive instability. Following the departure of its president, Jeff Zucker, and the brief, tumultuous tenure of Chris Licht, current CEO Mark Thompson has been tasked with stopping the bleeding. Thompson’s strategy involves a painful pivot away from the network’s &#8220;seminal TV division&#8221; toward a digital-centric model.
Key developments in this restructuring include: More than 200 staff members were terminated in early 2025 to reallocate resources toward digital ventures; a shift toward mobile-friendly content, allowing users to &#8220;flick&#8221; through news stories using their thumbs; a new streaming push launched in late 2025, following the high-profile failure of CNN+ years prior; and plans for a $70 million investment in subscription-based food and fitness content.
While CNN insiders argue that the decline is a symptom of a broader industry shift toward &#8220;alternative means&#8221; of news consumption, the success of rivals suggests otherwise. In January 2025, The Daily Mail reported, &#8220;Fox News, however, has continued to fly high — capturing more than 70 percent of cable news&#8217; audiences during primetime since (the 2024 election), as well as nearly 50 percent overall.&#8221;

Where Did Everyone Go? CNN Loses Two-Thirds Of Primetime Viewers

Media

Nielsen Ratings

Politics

Ratings

Oscars viewership was down 7% this year, with approximately 18.1 million people tuning in to watch the 97th Academy Awards on ABC.
The total number is calculated by adding the Nielsen measurement of viewers on ABC to live streaming viewers watching the ceremony on Hulu. This is the first time numbers have decreased since 2021, when just 10.4 million viewers tuned in following the COVID pandemic, per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/oscars-ratings-2025-viewers-1236326364/">Variety</a>.
Viewership has steadily been increasing since then until this year’s drop. The Academy Awards had 16.6 million viewers in 2022, 18.8 million in 2023, and 19.5 million in 2024, the outlet noted.
Despite fewer viewers, the broadcast was the most-watched primetime entertainment program this year that wasn’t sports or news. The Oscars also had the highest rating in the 18-49 demographic, increasing 3% compared to last year.
The outlet also noted that there were technical difficulties for people watching the awards on Hulu, which disrupted the broadcast just before Best Picture was announced at the end of the night.
First-time host Conan O’Brien mostly steered clear of politics and other hot-button issues throughout the night. “I think as host, I cannot ignore the moment we’re in right now, but also it’s threading a needle,” he said ahead of the hosting gig. 
“I want to do it with humor and also make sure the night doesn’t drift into only about that,” O’Brien added.
The comedian took a jab at Karla Sofia Gascón, a trans-identifying actor who was up for Best Actress, over old social media posts and joked about the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud. He also added a joke about the Catholic Church while referencing the film &#8220;Conclave.&#8221;
“Anora,” a drama about a prostitute who weds a Russian oligarch, was the big winner on Sunday night, bringing home five golden statues. One of the most controversial moments of the evening came when Best Actress winner Mikey Madison thanked the “sex worker community” for her win.
Best Actor winner Adrien Brody refused to leave the stage when the music started playing and proceeded to give the longest acceptance speech in the history of the Academy Awards.
Another controversial moment came after “No Other Land” won Best Documentary Feature Film. The anti-Israel project was directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and left-wing Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham.
“We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control, there is a different path,” Abraham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/best-documentary-winner-gives-anti-israel-speech-slams-u-s-foreign-policy">said</a> during his speech. “There is a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say, as I’m here, the foreign policy in [the United States] is helping to block this path.”

Oscars

Oscars Viewership Dropped This Year For First Time Since COVID

Academy Awards

Conan O'Brien

Entertainment

Television

World

The 2024 Grammy Awards saw a huge bump in viewership for the first time since the COVID pandemic struck four years earlier.
CBS scored 17 million viewers in final same-day ratings for Sunday&#8217;s broadcast of the 66th annual awards show, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/grammys-tv-ratings-sunday-feb-4-2024-1235816395/">according</a> to The Hollywood Reporter. It was an increase of 36% over the number of viewers who tuned in to watch the biggest night in music in 2023 when the show attracted 12.55 million viewers.
The awards show was also up by 40% in the coveted 18-49 age demographic compared to last year, the outlet noted.
The numbers on CBS don&#8217;t include those who streamed the show on Paramount+, with live viewership up 173% over last year, the network noted in a <a href="https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/the-66th-annual-grammy-awards/releases/?view=109207-the-66th-annual-grammy-awards-up-34-from-last-year-averaging-169-million-viewers-its-largest-audience-since-2020">press release</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GRAMMYs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GRAMMYs</a> Ratings Surge For CBS With Big Win For Taylor Swift, Big Performances By Tracy Chapman &amp; Joni Mitchell <a href="https://t.co/r73x8We40F">https://t.co/r73x8We40F</a>
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) <a href="https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1754603760230515164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
On Sunday, the night was filled with one surprise after another, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-tracy-chapmans-unforgettable-grammys-performance-singing-fast-car-with-luke-combs">Tracy Chapman</a> returning to the spotlight for the first time in more than a decade to sing her hit song &#8220;Fast Car&#8221; with country singer Luke Combs, whose more gritty version of the song blew up the charts in 2023.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/miley-cyrus-has-huge-night-wins-her-first-two-grammys-ever">Miley Cyrus</a> scored not only her first Grammy Award ever but her second as well for her song &#8220;Flowers.&#8221; It took home Best Pop Solo Performance and then Record of the Year, beating out the likes of Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and SZA, The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/grammys-2024-winners-list-1235809522/">Hollywood Reporter</a> noted.
There was also a surprise appearance from Grammy-winner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/celine-dion-shocks-grammy-audience-with-surprise-appearance">Celine Dion,</a> who cut her world tour short last year after being diagnosed with Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS).
The 55-year-old <a href="https://x.com/THR/status/1754361909116076264?s=20">singer,</a> whose rare neurological disease forced her to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-not-giving-up-celine-dion-cancels-entire-world-tour-amid-disorder-battle">cancel</a> the remaining tour dates, walked onto the stage to a standing ovation.
&#8220;When I say that I&#8217;m happy to be here, I really mean it from my heart,&#8221; Dion said as she thanked the audience, calling the reception &#8220;beautiful.&#8221;
&#8220;Those who have been blessed enough to be here at the Grammy Awards must never take for granted the tremendous love and joy that music brings to our lives and to people all around the world,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And now it gives me great joy to present a Grammy Award that two legends, Diana Ross and Sting, presented to me twenty-seven years ago.&#8221;
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History was also made when Taylor Swift became the first artist to win <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/taylor-swift-makes-history-at-grammys-announces-new-album">Album of the Year</a> four times, this time for &#8220;Midnights,&#8221; which also won Best Pop Vocal Album.
The jump in Grammy Awards viewership followed that of the 2024 Golden Globes, which also experienced its first spike in the ratings game since 2020, with a 50% increase over last year.

Taylor Swift

Grammy Awards See Huge Bump In Viewership For First Time Since Pandemic

Grammys

Miley Cyrus

Music Industry

U.S.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson&#8217;s prime time show &#8220;Tucker Carlson Tonight&#8221; airs for a second time on weeknights at 1 a.m. ET — and his late-night rerun still draws a larger audience in the key demographic than all but two of the shows in CNN&#8217;s entire lineup.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Carlson&#8217;s 1 a.m. repeat draws a total audience of 751,000 — which puts him ahead of every live CNN offering save for three: &#8220;The Lead with Jake Tapper,&#8221; which draws a total audience of 798,000; &#8220;Erin Burnett Outfront,&#8221; which draws 800,000 total viewers; and &#8220;Anderson Cooper 360,&#8221; which has an audience of 802,000.
But in the key demographic — the 25-54 age range — Carlson does even better. His rerun racks up an audience of 154,000 in that age range, besting every CNN show but two. Cooper draws an audience of 181,000 in the key demo, while Burnett scores 183,000 viewers in the same age range.
For <a href="https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/friday-dec-16-scoreboard-the-five-is-no-1-in-total-viewers-adults-25-54/520740/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comparison</a>, for the week ending on Friday, December 16th, Carlson&#8217;s prime time show averaged 288,000 viewers in the key demographic — compared to CNN&#8217;s Cooper at 117,000 and MSNBC&#8217;s Chris Hayes at 124,000 in the same time slot.
The only show on <a href="https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/category/ratings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cable news</a> to beat Carlson was another show on his own network. Fox News&#8217; daily drive-time panel show &#8220;The Five&#8221; drew an audience of 332,000 in that age range over the same dates.
&#8220;The Five&#8221; was named the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2022/12/15/the-five-leads-fox-news-to-big-win-in-2022-cable-news-ratings-as-cnn-msnbc-have-worst-years-ever/?sh=4fcd733842c0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most-watched show</a> in cable news, drawing an average total audience of 3.432 million people despite airing before the typical primetime hours at 5 p.m. ET. Carlson earned the top spot in the 25-54 age range, however, finishing the year with an average of 523,000 nightly viewers in that demographic.
Host <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2022/10/27/fox-news-channels-gutfeld-hits-25-million-viewers-highest-rated-night-in-shows-history/?sh=4e36ddbc62aa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greg Gutfeld</a>, who cohosts &#8220;The Five,&#8221; won big with his own late-night news and comedy show as well. He drew an average total audience of 2.045 million viewers — 345,000 viewers in the key demographic — and finished second for the year behind CBS&#8217; &#8220;The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.&#8221;
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott released a statement responding to the news, saying, &#8220;From America&#8217;s choice on election night to the home of late night&#8217;s smash hit show, 2022 was a testament to our unmatched skill in delivering the most innovative news and opinion programming to our audience which continues to rank as the most politically diverse in cable news. I am beyond proud of our entire team&#8217;s incredible achievements this year.&#8221;

2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards

Ratings Blowout: Tucker Carlson’s 1 a.m. Rerun Beats All But Two CNN Programs

Ratings Blowout: Tucker Carlson's 1 a.m. Rerun Beats All But Two CNN Programs

Fox News

Tucker Carlson

Former &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; anchor <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/chris-wallace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Wallace&#8217;s</a> CNN show debuted with lackluster ratings — losing big to his former network&#8217;s Sunday evening show hosted by former Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC).
According to a <a href="https://radaronline.com/p/chris-wallace-cnn-show-premiere-bombs-ratings-jeff-zucker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from RadarOnline, Wallace&#8217;s much-touted interview show — titled &#8220;Who&#8217;s Talking to Chris Wallace?&#8221; — racked up only 43,800 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. Wallace scored just 401,000 total viewers during his show, which aired in the 7 p.m. ET hour.
In comparison, the former South Carolina Congressman hosted &#8220;Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy&#8221; — and pulled in more than triple Wallace&#8217;s total viewers with over 1.3 million. He also nearly doubled Wallace&#8217;s number in the key demographic, racking up 78,000 viewers aged 25-54.
&#8220;Total Bomb!&#8221; @johnnydollar01 shared the news. &#8220;Chris Wallace&#8217;s CNN Show Premiere Tanks, Pulls Only 44k Viewers In Key Demo. The program was down double digits across every category vs the 2022 average. On Fox @TGowdySC scored a massive 1.3M viewers with 78k in the key 25-54 age demo &#8230;&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Total Bomb! Chris Wallace&#39;s CNN Show Premiere Tanks, Pulls Only 44k Viewers In Key Demo The program was down double digits across every category vs the 2022 average. On Fox <a href="https://twitter.com/TGowdySC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TGowdySC</a> scored a massive 1.3M viewers with 78k in the key 25-54 age demo&#8230;<a href="https://t.co/kjyha5fZPN">https://t.co/kjyha5fZPN</a>
&mdash; johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnnydollar01/status/1574513919929946113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Critics were quick to pile on Wallace — who abruptly left &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; in December of 2021 — suggesting that perhaps he was beginning to wish that he had stayed put.
&#8220;FoxNews made Chris Wallace, didn’t need him. Ratings don’t lie,&#8221; Mike Cernovich <a href="https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1574584902334369792" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
Wallace initially said when he <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/i-want-to-try-something-new-chris-wallace-is-leaving-fox-news-sunday-effective-immediately/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">left the network</a>, he was just looking for a change.
&#8220;After 18 years, I have decided to leave FOX. I want to try something new, to go beyond politics, to all of the things I’m interested in,&#8221; he explained during his final &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; broadcast. &#8220;I’m ready for a new adventure, and I hope you’ll check it out. And so, for the last time dear friends, that’s it for today.&#8221;
Wallace <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/unsustainable-chris-wallace-reveals-why-he-had-to-leave-fox-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">later claimed</a> that he had found the situation at FOX — particularly in the wake of January 6th — to be &#8220;unsustainable.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion,” Wallace said. “But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable. I spent a lot of 2021 looking to see if there was a different place for me to do my job,&#8221; he said.
Within days of leaving FOX, Wallace had announced his plan to <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/what-evidence-do-you-have-chris-wallace-throws-down-with-nikole-hannah-jones-on-cnn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">move to CNN+</a> — but the streaming service launched, floundered, and folded in less than a month.

Donald Trump And Joe Biden Participate In First Presidential Debate

Chris Wallace Show Tanks On CNN, Loses Big To His Former Network

Chris Wallace Show Tanks On CNN — Loses Big To Trey Gowdy On  Fox News, His Former Network

Chris Wallace

Trey Gowdy

On Thursday night, as the Jan. 6 Committee convened to start their hearings, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MI) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/us/bennie-thompsons-opening-statement-jan-6.html">boasted</a>, “The world is watching what we do here.”
According to preliminary ratings figures from Nielsen, the world might have been watching, but most Americans had better things to do.
The New York Times tried to hype the number of people watching the hearings by writing breathlessly, “An audience of at least 20 million people watched the first prime-time hearing of the House Select Committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on Thursday night, according to Nielsen.”
But as <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/10/j6-committee-pulls-dismal-ratings-in-prime-time-show-trial/">The Federalist</a> pointed out, that wasn’t much to brag about:
<blockquote>According to preliminary ratings figures from Nielsen <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/business/media/jan-6-hearing-ratings.html?referringSource=articleShare">published</a> by The New York Times, more than 19 million tuned in for what was anticipated to be a blockbuster event. While 19 million may seem high at first glance, a look at what cable and broadcast networks typically pull for an average evening reveals Thursday’s viewership as little to brag about, especially when all but one, Fox News, aired the livestream.</blockquote>
The three major networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC, pulled in a total of 11 million viewers. But <a href="https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/week-of-may-30-evening-news-ratings-top-rated-world-news-tonight-delivers-year-over-year-growth-in-holiday-shortened-week/508537/">AdWeek</a> noted for the week of May 30 that those networks’ evening programs collectively averaged seven million more viewers than the number on Thursday night.
“Though the Thursday night figure pales next to presidential debates (63 million to 73 million) or this year’s State of the Union address (38 million), it’s still much larger than the audience that would normally watch a daytime congressional hearing,” The New York Times reluctantly admitted.
The hard-core leftists watching CNN and MSNBC did give them a bump as they drew 2.6 and 4.1 million viewers respectively.
<a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/resistance-porn-ratings-fail-jan-6-committee-hearing-crushed-by-young-sheldon-rerun/">The Washington Free Beacon</a> pointed out that CBS might have done better had they not bumped a “Young Sheldon” rerun from its 8 p.m. primetime slot in order to broadcast the hearings.
<blockquote>The decision backfired.  Just 3.24 million people watched the network&#8217;s &#8220;Capitol Assault Hearings&#8221; coverage Thursday night, according to the TV Ratings Guide. Exactly one week prior, 3.86 million people tuned into CBS to watch a Young Sheldon rerun, meaning an old episode of the coming-of-age sitcom garnered roughly 600,000 more viewers than the inaugural hearing.</blockquote>
If CBS had run a new “Young Sheldon” episode, the gap likely would have grown far greater:
<blockquote>That gap is even more pronounced for new Young Sheldon episodes. More than seven million people, for example, watched the show&#8217;s season five finale, titled &#8220;A Clogged Pore, a Little Spanish, and the Future,&#8221; during CBS&#8217;s 8 p.m. slot on Thursday, May 19. Three weeks earlier, 6.9 million people watched a new episode titled, &#8220;Uncle Sheldon and a Hormonal Firecracker.</blockquote>

Woman sleep at home on a sofa

‘The World Is Watching,’ Jan 6 Hearings Committee Chairman Boasts. Americans’ Ratings Disagree.

Donald Trump

January 6 Committee