The ratings are in for CNN’s Trump Town Hall, and the special only drew the audience for an average Tucker Carlson show.
These are the reviews:
In the main 25- to 54-year-old demo, there were an average of 703,000 at City Hall, about five times more than CNN’s typical 8 p.m. performance.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
CNN expected a ratings drop after E. Jean Carroll’s verdict, but instead Trump drew fewer viewers than CNN’s last town hall he did in March 2016 (3.2 million)and it was almost eight times fewer viewers than the 2015 Republican primary debate hosted by CNN (23 million).
Trump doesn’t get a lot of ratings. CNN could have hired Tucker Carlson and got the same or better numbers than it did with Trump.
Before City Hall, Trump was all hype and promising record numbers. That didn’t come close to happening.
CNN could beat Fox and MSNBC with Trump’s town hall, but how many of those viewers tuned in to see his comments about E. Jean Carroll? It’ll be interesting to see if CNN and Trump held those ratings for the hour, or if they peaked early and then faded.
CNN is firmly tied for third for what seems like forever in the cable news ratings, so executives like Chris Licht defending City Hall are probably happy with the ratings.
The fact that Trump failed to draw an audience means that the ratings magic is long gone. Trump’s fatigue is real, and if CNN’s town hall was a highlight for his return to mainstream media, it bodes badly for Republican hopes of winning back the White House in 2024.
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