The mainstream media has torpedoed their credibility. And they aren’t going to make it out of this one.
Because CNN could go out of business after it was hit with a bombshell report.
CNN’s Ratings Plunge Exposes Network’s Fading Grip
CNN’s viewership has taken a nosedive since the so-called “Trump bump” of 2017, shedding 45% of its primetime audience and 44% of its total day viewers by 2025, marking a stark contrast to the network’s earlier highs fueled by relentless anti-Trump coverage.
Back in 2015, CNN averaged 711,000 primetime viewers and 489,000 for the total day, but the 2016 election cycle, with its fixation on Trump’s rallies and empty podium shots, boosted those numbers to 1.3 million in primetime and 752,000 overall.
By 2017, Trump’s first year in office, primetime held at 1 million while the total day edged up to 775,000, thanks to what CNN itself hyped as a “ratings boom” in press releases and reports from outlets like Axios, driven by “resistance” programming and figures like Jim Acosta.
Fast forward to 2025, and the numbers paint a picture of irrelevance: primetime down to 573,000 and total day at 432,000, with the key 25-54 demographic scraping bottom at 102,000 in primetime and 70,000 daily—all-time lows that suggest CNN’s one-note obsession with Trump has worn thin on audiences tired of the network’s predictable slant.
Rival Networks Thrive While CNN Struggles with Internal Chaos
In a telling comparison, Fox News Channel bucked the trend by growing 10% in primetime and 13% in total day viewership from 2017 to 2025, expanding its cable news market share from 47% to 63%—proof that not all networks are sinking in the cord-cutting era, where 80 million homes have ditched cable but 54 million still subscribe.
CNN insiders weakly blame the shift to streaming and podcasts, but that excuse falls flat when competitors like Fox continue to flourish, highlighting CNN’s own missteps rather than industry-wide woes.
The network’s internal upheaval hasn’t helped: Gone are hosts like Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo, Jim Acosta has exited, leaving Anderson Cooper as the lone survivor from the 2017 primetime crew. Leadership has been a revolving door, from Jeff Zucker’s forced exit before the Warner Bros.
Discovery merger—he who steered the aggressive anti-Trump turn—to Chris Licht’s short-lived bid to dial back the partisanship, only to be ousted for Mark Thompson in 2023. Now, with CNN up for sale again, it’s clear the network’s constant drama and biased pivots have eroded its foundation.
Critics Point to CNN’s Biased Overreach as Root of Decline
Experts and commentators aren’t mincing words about CNN’s fall, attributing it to years of overhyped “resistance” narratives that alienated viewers.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha nailed it, saying, “This shows that the networks that have cried wolf, or in this case, cried Trump, have gone to that well about one thousand times more than even many of their viewers can stand.”
He slammed the network’s slanted coverage since 2017, including pushing Russian collusion theories while downplaying the Hunter Biden laptop story.
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck observed that the media landscape has shifted, with Trump’s detractors now turning to podcasts like “I’ve Had It,” The Bulwark, and MeidasTouch for their “Trump hate and talking points,” diminishing CNN and MSNBC as the default hubs for “The Resistance.”
DePauw University professor Jeffrey McCall added that the decline stems from a mix of factors, starting with denial over Trump’s 2016 victory, fueling Russia collusion hype, impeachments, and endless resistance rhetoric.
He noted, “The resistance has not evaporated by any means,” but there’s less urgency since Trump can’t seek a third term, and wild claims like third-term fears “get no traction.” Ultimately, CNN’s relentless partisan drumbeat seems to have backfired, leaving it scrambling in a more diverse media world.
