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CNN has it's worst ratings in a decade

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speculawyer said:
I think you can get a podcast of the Newshour. I used to listen to that all the time.
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Oh, that's great, I'll check that out. Sometimes on the weekend I'll listen to podcasts but I run out of the ones that really interest me(Giant Bomb, This American Life and RadioLab are really the only ones I get psyched about).
 
News on TV used to be considered a loss leader aka, not about ratings or profit. The fact that cable news programs are about ratings is all you need to know about the news.

Journalists should be the filter between bullshit and reality. Yet nobody asks tough questions or fact checks what anybody says anymore.
 
Almost all news stations have become hybrids of real news, YouTube videos, celeb updates and twitter posts. Tv news has become unwatchable and useless IMO.
 
Willy105 said:
A very great deal of people here still believe it's a terrorist propaganda channel.
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Probably due to the fact that before Americans even knew it existed the Americans broadcasters would say that Bin Laden released the tapes to Al Jazeera instantly associating them as together.
 
What good news outlets US has? When ever I visit US I just watch PBS NewsHour and BBC World News America, all the other evening news programs are crap.
 
FOX is a well oiled machine that is able to perfectly hit multiple demographics and groups with their content. Everything, from how they embrace social media and counter culture to even basic shit like aligning attractive hosts against slobs like Ed Schultz and Wolf Blitzer are well calculated moves.

Compare that to CNN which feels like a gimmick. Holograms and Piers Morgan. Whoop dee fucking doo. They can't even be a good counter to Fox becuase MSNBC has spent so much time breeding a line-up that solely exists to rally anti-Fox people. They are stuck in the weird position of not having a side in a news industry that now demands you take a side. Their hosts lack the appeal to either side that a Reilly or Maddow has and their line-up is incredibly boring. Everyone is joking that only old people watch Fox but how many young people watch Wolf Blitzer or that catterfy guy. Who really gives a flying fuck about Piers Morgan.].
 
Anderson 360 is tabloid shit mixed with propaganda.

CNN, like all US news, is trash.
 
Stopped watching CNN a few years ago. The fact that I have to go to foreign news outlets or listen to public radio for any semblance of actual news & reporting is ridiculous.
 
Article in NYT this morning about this. CNN is still profitable due to subscription fees and experts don't expect those to drop even with bad ratings for a long time. But it said morale was low among employees.
 
The worst thing about CNN and American journalism in general is the damn banter that goes between the damn journalists. STFU and give the news. I don´t want to hear your fake shit, JUST TELL ME THE FUCKING NEWS. This damn banter trend has spread to Europe.

BTW most CNN´s journalists are tools.
 
Back in 2007/2008 I watched CNN and MSNBC daily to follow stuff about hte presidential primaries and elections. But as the days and weeks passed by, I found myself more and more enraged by the sheer lack of journalism on the networks.

Sure, Chuck Todd occasionally did some number crunching and brought in some perspective, but even he would stop short of pointing out the forgone conclusion of his analysis. There was always that ridiculous spin applied by either him or one of the anchors. I found myself every day thinking "WHY DON'T YOU POINT OUT THE HYPOCRISY?" or "WHY AREN'T YOU CRITICIZING ____ FOR SAYING ____ EVEN THOUGH IT'S DEMONSTRABLY FALSE?" or "Why don't you tell me something aobut this that doesn't come from one of the party representatives?" or "Why aren't you reporting on ____ in this other country?" or something along those lines.

I stopped watching the networks specifically BECAUSE they would not provide me the news. I'm sure there are millions of others out there like myself.

But I'm sure CNN will interpret these ratings to mean they don't use social media enough, or they don't have enough holograms, or they aren't partisan enough.
 
Cold-calling celebrities in the early-morning hours. Breathlessly reporting on flesh-eating "zombie" attacks. Hiring TV chef Anthony Bourdain. There are a lot of changes going on over at CNN these days. And there's a very good reason for all the changes: Last month, ratings for the cable news network sunk to a 20-year-low.

In May, CNN averaged a mere 389,000 viewers in primetime, its lowest total since October 1991 (back when the first George Bush was still in the White House). To be fair, all of the major news networks were down year-to-year from last May, when the death of Osama bin Liden boosted viewership. But CNN's primetime audience declined a whopping 51 percent, finishing a distant third to Fox News and MSNBC. Most humiliatingly, CNN even fell behind its more tabloidy kid-sister station, Headline News, among key demographics.

So the network has had to resort to stunts like "Wake 'Em Up," where the "Early Start" anchors dial up famous names in the early morning to pepper them with questions, and cover juicy stories like the recent pseudo-zombie attack in Florida. While a bit disappointing, these developments are understandable: The most buzz we've heard about CNN lately comes from viral-video moments like Anderson Cooper's giggle fits that don't exactly lead to loyal viewership. And they haven't found a compelling TV personality to fill the void left by Larry King, who ended his nightly talk show in December 2010.

And it may be that CNN's legendary objectivity is part of the problem. The network has always prided itself on covering the news with an even hand, but more partisan networks like Fox News and MSNBC have stolen away viewers by taking sides in the growing culture war and offering strong opinions with a conservative or liberal slant. CNN may win on journalistic integrity, but they're losing on passion.

In any case, something's gotta give at CNN; hence, all the deck-shuffling. They're even creating a new food and travel show starring the curmudgeonly Bourdain to try and boost their lackluster weekend ratings -- which would seem to lead the network even further away from its original hard-news mission. CNN is actually set to celebrate its 30th anniversary tomorrow. Now it just needs to figure out how to adapt so it can stick around for another 30 years.
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http://tv.yahoo.com/news/cnn-looks-to-shake-up-schedule-after-ratings-hit-20-year-low.html
 
Which is why I fear Anthony Bourdain moving over there was a bad move. I don't want him to sink with the CNN ship.
 
CNN I is decent.

But, like stated in this thread, the current model is trash. For fucks sake, give me facts and tell me who's right and who's bullshitting. Is it sad that I look to GAF for people who'll parse information?
 
NomarTyme said:
Wolf Blitzer is a freaking joke. They dumb down their news so bad.
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agree 100%. he's been a running joke on that channel for so long i'm surprised that he still holds any influence.

the likely prescription to this will be what no one wants. more shows devoted to opinion/punditry that's pitted as a discourse where every single topic has a binary left/right split. i imagine they'll also increase the levels on the mics a tad. maybe they'll sign Pat Buchanan to stir the shit a bit.
 
Marvie_3 said:
I'm surprised MSNBC is ahead of CNN
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CNN's backwater half sister, HLN, even gets better ratings. And with such quality commentators like Nancy Grace and it's mind numbing afternoon news cycling.

I always thought that a narrative driven, in depth, focused approach in primetime along with easily to consume rundown of the news during the day would be the best approach for a network like CNN to survive. Sort like The Daily Beast/Newsweek approach, but for television/online instead of print+online.

Anthony Bourdain's hire is hopefully pointing to somethin like that. He's a great storyteller, and that's exactly what they need to set themselves apart in primetime right now.
 
The iPhone app is good in my opinion. The website isn't very good anymore, and I've been trying to find a replacement (Any recommendations GAF?) And the television channel has fallen into the black hole of talking about a bunch of shitty political stories that only crazy people care about, instead of actual news.

I don't think CNN is going to die anytime soon though. Anytime there is REALLY big news going on (ex Osama's death), the majority of people go to CNN to watch it. It's just that the only regular watchers of those channels are old people who have nothing else to do. (My grandfather watch MSNBC all. fucking. day.)
 
They should embrace international models like the BBC and Al Jazeera english. Over time you will gain the credibility you seek and certain people(not all) will eventually mood swing away from ultra partisan news if a legitimate alternative is available and it will attract disgruntled viewers who've abandoned cable news.


.......though instead they will probably just double down on their Foxnews model lite and go back to being primetime partisan. Finally putting into the grave the collective credibility they still semi have to some thanks to their early years.
 
vferrel said:
The iPhone app is good in my opinion. The website isn't very good anymore, and I've been trying to find a replacement (Any recommendations GAF?) And the television channel has fallen into the black hole of talking about a bunch of shitty political stories that only crazy people care about, instead of actual news.
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thedailybeast.com for an intelligent rundown of the days news. The BBC has the best news website overall (looking, functioning, content, the whole nine yards). NPR has tremendous editorial and blog content for every subject you can think of, plus they cover every angle of any top news story. NPR is the best for U.S. political coverage. (CBS and PBS for TV news.)
 
SouthernDragon said:
CNN I is decent.

But, like stated in this thread, the current model is trash. For fucks sake, give me facts and tell me who's right and who's bullshitting. Is it sad that I look to GAF for people who'll parse information?
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Exactly. CNN's ass in that the ratio of facts to bullshit is heavily skewed toward the latter. It's literally them saying ONE fact, then spending the next 20 minutes asking "pundits" about one fact. And they have the same damn pundits all the time. It doesn't matter what "show" you're talking about, they all follow this same formula. Within 2 minutes you want to turn it off or change the channel.

Anyone who's serious about the news go reads their daily intake on the internet. Nobody wants to get one fact every 20 minutes and listen to random people talking about it. Honestly, the fact that they can't even break a million viewers is really, really sad. I had no idea their ratings were that horrendous, but watching it for five minutes tells you all you need to know.
 
The pundits are the things ruining the news. CNN is terrible because nearly all the shows that have pundits let them talk and talk and talk with very little moderation or fact checking. It also likes to pretend to be non-biased but it has a number of shows that have rather biased hosts.

It has become a mess of a network and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon.
 
I stopped watching CNN when they changed their focus from US and world news to US politics plus lighter stories. The network is total fluff. They used to have (maybe still do?) a huge network of reporters around the globe and would always have good coverage of global events. Now every time I turn them on they're always slobbering over some "hot button" issue rather than reporting news.
 
scorcho said:
the likely prescription to this will be what no one wants. more shows devoted to opinion/punditry that's pitted as a discourse where every single topic has a binary left/right split. i imagine they'll also increase the levels on the mics a tad. maybe they'll sign Pat Buchanan to stir the shit a bit.
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But it's their move to this model that's been their downfall. If people want punditry they generally tune into a source they agree with, and the two extremes are already covered by MSNBC and Fox. CNN has no territory.

They also have some horrible hosts. Gloria Borger, John King, Wolf Blitzer, Soledad O'Brien... jesus christ.
 
DanteFox said:
Which is why I fear Anthony Bourdain moving over there was a bad move. I don't want him to sink with the CNN ship.
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Actually I think he's making a big step in his career. He's seen the world and seen the problems at home and abroad I think he wants to bring to light the real world issues.

I think he is at a point in his life where he knows he lives well and his show No Reservations is just him gorging all around the world but he also has episodes like Haiti where it is a bit political and documentary as well. He can't keep trying to be both serious and glutinous in the same show so I take it he wants to do something positive.

I'm glad we at least got 8 seasons of NR, I love the show and if CNN doesn't work out I'm sure he can land anywhere else considering his fanbase is so strong.
 
VALIS said:
I stopped watching CNN when they changed their focus from US and world news to US politics plus lighter stories. The network is total fluff. They used to have (maybe still do?) a huge network of reporters around the globe and would always have good coverage of global events. Now every time I turn them on they're always slobbering over some "hot button" issue rather than reporting news.
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I want cable news to be less like local news, not more. But that would probably further torpedo their ratings.
 
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