(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Chris Cuomo debuted his new cable news show with NewsNation on Monday, making a horrendous flop despite his much-hyped return.
According to BizPac Review, Cuomo’s return to prime-time only drew 147,000 viewers, taking a backseat to Paw Patrol, SpongeBob and reruns of Seinfeld.
The former CNN host is making $1 million every year with NewsNation, a massive pay deduction when compared with his $6 million CNN salary.
Cuomo was fired from his old network for assisting his disgraced brother, former New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, cover up sexual harassment allegations.
The talking head is now suing CNN for $125 million in unpaid wages and for damage to his reputation.
Cuomo announced his new position at NewsNation in July, claiming he aims to “expose the game,” and expose the “manufactured division” that plagues America today.
Chris Cuomo blasts ‘manufactured division’, resurrects career with groveling mea culpa: ‘Here to expose the game’ https://t.co/HfsOccIz8p pic.twitter.com/3iY5tn8nq4
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) October 4, 2022
“I want to build something special here,” he said in the announcement, claiming he could become part of the “insurgent media.”
Despite these hefty promises, the new show tanked, scoring only 8,000 viewers in with the highly coveted 25-54 age demographic.
Several shows with syndicated reruns performed better, such as Cocomelon, The Office and Bob’s Burgers, all drawing larger audiences in the 25-54 demographic and in total viewers.
Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Tonight led the prime time spot with almost 2.9 million viewers, over 20 times the viewership of Cuomo’s new show.
His old colleagues at CNN and MSNBC also pulverized him, with Anderson Cooper coming in second and MSNBC’s All In coming in third.
Despite telling his viewers that he was “humbled” and “learned lessons” from his CNN exit and promised to be more neutral in his approach to political news, Cuomo kicked off his debut by discussing immigration.
“We are manipulated by manufactured division that only works to advance the interests of the fringe and the fake. It is only online and how that can be echoed on TV that distorts the reality,” Cuomo claimed Monday night.
“The majority is not about left or right, you’re about reasonable. That’s why I’m going to rely not on reading tweets to measure your feedback. I want to go old school here,” he stated and then urged viewers to call in.
“It will be a time for us to discuss our society as adults in the room, not some raging radicals or somebody with keyboard muscles.”
