London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jan 16, 2026

CNN goes first two weeks of October without any program reaching 1 million viewers

The network once known as the “most trusted name in news” started to lose public trust after its massive fake news about Iraq's alleged nuclear weapons, that actually never existed. This fake news cost the lives of thousands American soldiers (and countless Iraqis) and billions of dollars lost on a fake war against nothing. CNN continues to lose trust for its biased news against whoever did not vote for Biden, and its promotion of an extremist hate-culture against "the other" 84 million American voters. The result of dividing USA is that the fanatical network has gone 21 days without averaging a 7-digit viewership.
CNN's struggle to maintain relevance following the departure of President Donald Trump has never been more glaring. The news channel is suffering from an unprecedented drought in viewership, going the first two weeks of October without any program averaging 1 million viewers, an astonishing 21-day streak that began in September.

CNN's total day viewer average has plummeted to 484,000, a distant third behind Fox News' 1.4 million and MSNBC's 685,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 15, according to Nielsen data. CNN's weekday primetime average reached just 729,000 while Fox News topped with 2.6 million versus MSNBC's 1.5 million.

The last time CNN had at least one program averaging 1 million viewers was Sept. 24.

"AC:360" anchor Anderson Cooper, who had the most-watched CNN program in September averaging 916,000 viewers, has been capped at the knees so far this month, falling a whopping 17% to an average of 759,000 viewers. Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 3 million viewers, quadrupling CNN's viewership. MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes" averaged 1.3 million in the same time period.

"Cuomo Prime Time" anchor Chris Cuomo nabbed Cooper's leading status from last month averaging 818,000 viewers, a 6% drop from September. Fox News' "Hannity" continues to trounce Cuomo, averaging 2.76 million viewers while MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" averaged 2.17 million so far this month.

Don Lemon continues to suffer in the 10 pm ET primetime slot, averaging just 619,000 viewers two weeks into October, a 15% drop from his 724,000 average last month. Meanwhile, Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" has averaged 2.2 million viewers, more than tripling Lemon's audience, in the first two weeks of October while MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" reached 1.3 million viewers.

As bad as CNN's primetime lineup is doing, the network's daytime programming continues to hemorrhage viewers as well.

"The Lead" anchor Jake Tapper has failed to reach 700,000 viewers so far this month, averaging just 671,000 after previously averaging 737,000 in September.

CNN's left-wing media guru Brian Stelter also had a great fall below the 700,000 threshold, reaching only a 665,000 average between his first two October installments of his Sunday program "Reliable Sources."

Stelter has only exceeded 1 million viewers twice since March, one of them being the breaking news coverage of billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flight in July, the other in August amid the Biden administration's chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The network's flagship morning program "New Day" continues to hit new lows, averaging a devastating 386,000 viewers after losing 10% of its audience since last month so far. The John Berman-Brianna Keilar duo remains as some of CNN's least-watched talent in all of the network's weekday programming.

Even William Shatner's adventure into space couldn't give CNN the boost it needed, topping at just 986,000 viewers during the 11 am ET timeslot when the Blue Origin crew launched and returned to Earth.

CNN's evaporating viewership comes as the network continues to be plagued by scandals and controversies. Embattled anchor Chris Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment by veteran TV producer Shelley Ross last month after the primetime star spent much of 2021 being engulfed in the scandals of his brother, ousted Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Last week, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta was forced to admit by podcast superstar Joe Rogan that his colleagues should not have characterized the use of ivermectin as a COVID treatment as the equivalent of taking "horse dewormer."
Comments

J.A 4 year ago
The trust problem with the “mainstream” media is real, and it’s not only about CNN.

When we -the anti Trump and pro Biden- cannot rely on our favorite home-based news outlet, it is a problem.

CNN -just our other favorite news sources- became the mirror of FOX news. The other side of the same. They are on our side but what we need from news outlet is to tell us the true, not only what we want to hear.

We better admit the problem so we can fix it before losing it all.
N.U. 4 year ago
J.O., the role of REAL news is not to keep everybody happy, but informed. Such an article is a wake up call. Not against CNN but for making CNN great again…
J.O. 4 year ago
People over there at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28977156 are not happy about your article, and that's comprehensible, 90% of them still being Deep Asleep...

Happy Awakening, news.ycombinator.com crowd! It would be about time!!
I don't know your name 4 year ago
This article is so biased. Blaming CNN for "fake news" for what the Republican government under George W. Bush and his military advisors provided all the "intel" about Iraq's "nuclear weapons". They were reporting what the Republican government lied about. Then goes on to talk about "biased news against whoever did not vote for Biden", sounds like blatant bias right here. Not even providing an example of what they are talking about. What's London Daily? The British version of Fox News?
YouKnowMyName 4 year ago
Hey.. it's none of that... It's the stolen election and BS lies about covid. People are not stupid..... politicians and 'main stream media' only think we are stupid....
Claire Sheppard 4 year ago
Well, well...are people finally waking up? (Not "woke," WAKING UP!)

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
×