CNN's Ratings Remain in Freefall Under New Boss Chris Licht

Despite the many changes Chris Licht has made to CNN in recent months, ratings have continued to drop.

Since taking over CNN on May 2, Licht has worked to make the network less partisan and more neutral in its coverage. The new network president has instituted guidelines to reduce the use of "Breaking News" banners, threatened to oust overly partisan CNN personalities, and even asked staffers to stop referring to Donald Trump's false election claims as the "Big Lie."

With the changes, Licht seems eager to draw in more moderate and conservative viewers, but so far, the results have not been positive, as CNN's ratings remain in freefall.

The Daily Beast reports CNN viewership declined in June, and the network saw drops over the two months prior, as well.

CNN's primetime June lineup attracted 654,000 total viewers and 148,000 in the key advertising demographic of viewers aged 25-54, a 1% drop from May in both categories. CNN's daytime viewership dropped to 487,000 viewers, a decrease of 3%, with daytime viewers aged 25-54 falling by 2% to 104,000.

The network even saw ratings decline during high-profile events like the Jan. 6 committee hearings. The week of June 13-19, which included two days of hearings, saw viewership decrease by 13% from May's average, and it was the network's worst week since November 2015. As a whole, June 2022 was CNN's lowest-rated month in total daily viewership since July 2015.

Still, CNN's June ratings decrease pales in comparison to the woes of the month prior. Over the course of May, CNN dipped 5% in total primetime viewers and 11% in the 25-54 primetime demographic from April. The total daily audience also saw a 14% drop in overall viewership and a 20% decline in the demographic.

MSNBC, on the other hand, saw an increase in viewership in June, as an average of 1.28 million people tuned in for the committee hearings and primetime analysis, a whopping 26% increase from May.

Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.