(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Upstart news media site Newsmax made a major statement last week, beating out dying mainstream media corporation CNN for the first time, according to Nielsen rating numbers.
Between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Newsmax beat out CNN by drawing 738,000 total viewers. Newsmax’s average evening prime-time is 579,000 viewers. Part of the big numbers boost appeared to be tied to a widely-viewed Trump rally in Pennsylvania that Newsmax aired, according to Mediaite.
CNN, on the the other hand, pulled in only 645,000 viewers during Anderson Cooper’s primetime slot, despite being a part of prestige media.
And Newsmax scored this victory despite being carried in 20 million homes fewer than CNN.
Further, the numbers do not include Newsmax’s OTT streamers–those who access the site via the internet without subscription, which could double the Newsmax viewership–meaning that the victory was far more secure than the numbers show.
On the whole, the news station has held steady as the fourth-ranked cable TV news station over the course of the past year.
As Newsmax continues to grow, CNN is in the midst of a precipitous collapse.
Aside from the chaotic resignation of former President Jeff Zucker as well as the subsequent firing of Chris Cuomo, the network has continued to tank.
For example CNN’s new streaming service, CNN+, was shut down two days earlier than expected after the network’s parent company decided to pull the plug on it right away.
Chris Licht, the network’s new president, told the staff, “While today’s decision is incredibly difficult, it is the right one for the long-term success of CNN.”
Further, in a desperate attempt to regain its old credibility among the American people, CNN’s corporate parent has said that it wants the network to get back to journalism, reporting news and facts, without advocacy, in order to create a more “civilized society.”
