TV news is crashing and burning. Newsmax is in the worst shape, down 51% in February. Fox did the best, they are down 19% and 25% in the demo. CNN and MSNBC are down significantly. Network news is down also.
The reason? Donald J. Trump is gone.
The Mediaite report:
But in the last week of February, Newsmax had lost 51% of its audience in total day since its viewership peaked the week of November 16, 2020, dropping from an average 398,000 viewers in total day to 197,000, and 63% of its viewers in demo, dropping from 93,000 to 34,000. In prime time, the total viewership drop-off was 55%, from 495,000 to 223,000, and 63% in the demo, from 134,000 to 49,000. During the 7 p.m. hour, the audience for Greg Kelly Reports dropped 48%, from 970,000 to 502,000, and 67% in the demo, from 242,000 to 80,000, according to Nielsen data. Newsmax also dropped in cable rankings from 27th among total viewers in prime time the week of Nov. 16, to 52nd the week of Feb. 22. In total day, Newsmax dropped from 19th to 33rd in the weekly cable rankings.
As cable television viewership was down over all in the last week of February compared to the week of Nov. 16, the three major cable news networks also saw ratings declines over that time period, although none quite as steep as Newsmax.
Since the week of Nov. 16, CNN’s total day viewership has dropped 36%, and 43% in the demo, as of the week of Feb. 22; in prime time, total viewership is down 38%, and 45% in the demo. At MSNBC, total day viewership is down 17%, and 28% in the demo, while prime time viewership is down 12% overall, and 22% in the demo. Fox News has seen its total day audience drop 7% since November, and 13% in the demo, while its primetime viewership has dropped 19%, and 25% in the demo.
AdWeek on Network News:
All three evening newscasts lost viewers from the prior week.
World News Tonight fell -7% in total viewers, and -12% in the key A25-54 demo. However, compared to the same week one year ago, the trend remains positive. World News Tonight grew +4% in total viewers and +1% among adults 25-54.
NBC Nightly News withLester Holtaveraged more than 7.6 million total viewers last week, making it the 5th-most-watched show on all of TV (excluding sports and syndication). The newscast also averaged nearly 1.4 million adults 25-54.
Those aren’t spectacular Nielsen numbers by Nightly News standards. Compared to the prior week, Nightly News fell -8% in total viewers and -13% among adults 25-54. The newscast also fell -3% in total viewers, and -12% among adults 25-54 from the year-ago week.
It’s because the star is gone.
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