CNN’s new challenger to Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity, “Chris Cuomo Primetime,” hasn’t reeled in the big ratings the network was hoping for.
CNN took a bit of a gamble moving Cuomo from his normal anchor spot on CNN’s morning show, “New Day,” to primetime.
Fox News’ “Hannity” and MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” have long dominated the cable ratings at 9 pm, relegating CNN to the distant third position. The idea was to pit Cuomo’s new show against the FNC and MSNBC powerhouses by structuring the program around one-on-one interviews with big-name guests rather than opening monologues and panel discussions.
However, despite big “gets” like White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, Cuomo hasn’t closed the ratings gap with his competitors.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Cuomo averaged 1.1 million viewers in his first week, compared to Maddow’s 2.6 million and Hannity’s nearly 3.2 million.
Even more concerning, however, are Cuomo’s trends against himself and his predecessor, Anderson Cooper.
While the premiere of Cuomo peaked at nearly 1.4 million viewers, the latest edition this past Friday finished with just over 1 million. The show is already down 23 percent in total viewers and 26 percent in the 25-54 age demographic since its launch.
The new show is also underperforming when compared to the previous 9 pm show, “Anderson Cooper 360,” at the same time last year.
On the week of June 5 to June 9 in 2017, “Anderson Cooper 360” enjoyed an average of nearly 1.3 million viewers. Yet, “Chris Cuomo Primetime” only hit an average 1.1 million, down 9 percent from last year.
The downward trend was even worse among the coveted 25-54 age range — Cuomo was down 14 percent in that demographic last week when compared to the same week last year.