Larry King and CNN Getting Clobbered in Ratings

By PopEater Staff Posted Mar 30th 2010 11:15AM

More bad news for CNN: According to the NY Times, the most trusted name in news experienced yet another ratings hiccup during the first quarter of 2010, with headline programs like 'Larry King Live' and 'Anderson Cooper 360' down about 50 percent in viewers.

'Larry King' in particular saw its worst quarter ever, averaging a measly 771,000 viewers, down from 1.34 million viewers in 2009. The long-running news program, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in June, was even beat by HLN's 'Joy Behar Show' a whopping 21 times at 9PM.

Meanwhile, Anderson Cooper was hit by a similar, though not quite as drastic, decline in the ratings. His 10PM program was down 42 percent in viewers and almost 50 percent in the 25-to-54 demo -- a troubling sign, considering that Cooper is one of the networks most lauded and recognizable faces -- not to mention one of its highest paid. (Recently, Cooper was said to be eyeing an anchor position at CBS News, a report that was quickly shot down by CNN.)

But Cooper and King aren't the only ones suffering from bad ratings: 'Campbell Brown' was down at 8PM, as was the network's morning news program, 'American Morning,' which fell behind MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' for the first time ever, according to the report.

What these numbers mean for the future of CNN remains to be seen. But if the network is looking to improve its audience, it may want to take a page from its biggest rival, Fox News Channel. The network is coming off of its biggest quarter ever, with shows like 'Bill O'Reilly' and 'Glenn Beck' up 28 and 50 percent, respectively.

Perhaps it's time for CNN to start courting Sarah Palin.

Tags: anderson cooper, anderson cooper 360, larry king, larry king live, ratings

Comments

(89)

Tuesday 30 March

By pat

Vote down Vote up Report this

After Lou quit the whole game went to hell..

By nrthstr11

WHEN DID FOX QUALIFY AS NEWS CHANNEL?????
Isnt there a disclaimer that says for Entertainment Purposes Only like on the bottom of Miss Cleo's Psychic Ad?

Thursday 15 April

By Nancy

Has anyone else noticed how CNN almost daily runs features related to race?

By Gordon

People are saying -NO- to the product being offered , The liberal N.Y Times blames a lack of readership on a market shift in getting news - Yet middle to right leaning the N.Y Post has growth each year. CNN and MSNBC who are so far left it's almost a parody of real news is in the toilet and so is Time magazine - Yet never once do I ever him them even consider that it's the market being turned off to the product ( liberal bias ) being offered. Fox grows - they shrink - you would think by now the shareholders would be screaming for change or managment would make adujustments just to keep their jobs but they just don't seem to get it - they are all full of crap and we know it.

By Bob Gurule

How can anyone truthfully say that Fox News is not fair and balanced? I guess if you've never watched you wouldn't know. Try it, you'll like it!!

By Betty Scully

CNN needs to stay w/quality & let ratings take care of themselves. Anderson talks too fast & tries too hard...how about all of them getting a little more intellectual about their material? On taxes for instance, Harvard' "Justice" program on PBS recently did a piece supporting the idea of "progressive" taxation by applying the logic stds. (Prof. Michael Sandel; JusticeHarvard.org) (Rick Sanchez talks down to the afternoon audience; Larry King is great w/important people...past his prime w/entertainers. Everyone, except Wolf, is trying too hard to be even-Steven politically...the populace is not separated 50/50...AND finally, Don't have your people be in such a rush all the time...some subjects deserve the extra 10-15 minutes.) To let your public develop sloppy thinking habits does not do any favors to your sponsors or reputation!

Tuesday 04 May

By conrad

LARRY KING IS,HAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME.HE IS A LEGEND AND ALL YOU JEALOUS STUPID IGNORANT HATERS SHOULD SHUT UP.LARRY IS KING AND EVERY ONE KNOWS THAT.

Tuesday 20 April

By Di

CNN says just what the liberals tell them to say. No honest reporting. If they know the liberals want something said or covered up they do it. Fox reports what is happening. Larry King needs to retire.

Friday 08 October

By Christine

Your backing the Republicans, who want to brake this country apart. Your rich people we get that. 97% of Americans are not, play your odds.

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