CNN’s “New Day” hit a seven-year low in the advertiser-coveted age demographic of viewers from 25 to 54 in July. It was the least-watched cable news program in the demo for the month.
The drop came after an anchor shuffle at “New Day” and a series of viral clips aimed at correcting COVID-19 misinformation and hitting rival network Fox News for its opinion programming on the vaccine.
Here’s how the numbers broke down in July, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings data: Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” averaged 1.1 million viewers from 6 a.m. ET to 9 a.m. ET. Of those, 200,000 were in the demo. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” took in an average of 903,000 total viewers, of whom 117,000 were between 25 and 54. CNN brought in 450,000 total average viewers for “New Day” in that time slot, and of those, only 84,000 were in the key demo.
As has been widely reported, cable news ratings are down for all the networks after the highs of January 2021, which saw not only the deadly Capitol riot and President Joe Biden’s inauguration, but the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. In January, before “New Day” anchor Alisyn Camerota moved to late mornings and was replaced by current co-anchor Brianna Keilar, the show averaged 1.072 million viewers, with 286,000 in the demo. By comparison, “Fox & Friends” averaged 1.144 million in January, with 213,000 in the demo, and “Morning Joe” averaged 1.689 million, with 289,000 in the demo.
As evidenced above, all three shows have since seen declines, though “New Day” has been hit the hardest.
“New Day” has taken a sharper tone since its most recent relaunch, generating headlines for its critiques of Fox News and Republican lawmakers. On Monday, the program looked at data linking Fox News viewership to vaccine hesitancy, and last week, Keilar dedicated a segment to how “ironic” it was that GOP Sen. Ted Cruz has been criticizing Democratic lawmakers’ COVID-era travel.