Your support helps us tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to big tech, The Independent is where the stories unfold. Whether it’s investigating the finances of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing The A Word, a new documentary highlighting American women fighting for reproductive rights, we rely on events to We know how important it is to analyze the facts. Messaging.
At such a critical moment in American history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to continue sending journalists to work with stories on both sides of the aisle.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news organizations, we don’t use a paywall to shut Americans off from our reporting or analysis. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone and paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
close
read more
While cable news networks CNN and MSNBC continue to experience significant post-election TV ratings declines, a new Associated Press poll shows that most Americans are exhausted and exhausted since Donald Trump’s election victory. It turns out that I don’t listen to political news.
The survey, conducted in early December by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that about two-thirds of respondents have recently felt the need to limit their political and government media consumption due to overload. It turned out that the answer was “. Some participants explained why they felt tired and had to walk away.
“People are mentally exhausted,” said Ziad Aunala, 45, a Democratic congressman from San Diego. “We all know what’s going to happen, but we’re just resting for a little while.”
The poll also shows that politics is prominent in media consumption, as Americans remain interested in news about climate change, the economy, and foreign conflicts.
Open image in gallery
Another Democratic respondent to an Associated Press poll said he spent too much time watching election news on CNN and MSNBC, adding, “The last thing I want to see right now is an interregnum.”
In fact, about 7 in 10 Democrats told The Associated Press that they take a break from political news. The numbers were not as high for Republicans who had celebrated Trump’s victory, but still about 60% said they needed to step away from politics. A similar number of independents expressed a similar view.
The political fatigue and exhaustion Democrats are feeling after President Trump’s victory is reflected in plummeting viewership for CNN and MSNBC.
From the election until last week, CNN’s total daily viewership dropped 35 percent to just 331,000 viewers. The network averaged 400,000 viewers in prime time, down 46% after the election, according to Nielsen Media Research.
MSNBC, long seen as an anti-Trump staging ground for liberals, saw its total daily viewership plummet by 47 percent, its prime-time viewership also fell by 54 percent, and averaged just 61 viewers. There were 5,000 people. The left-wing channels’ ratings woes have been so severe that in recent years, smaller “centrist” cable channels, which typically capture a fraction of MSNBC’s ratings, have been forced to take advantage of the coveted 25-54 advertising tier. It lost to News Nation.
Meanwhile, FOX News has seen its ratings skyrocket after the election. The conservative cable giant, which appealed directly to Trump supporters and had several of its on-air personalities join the president-elect’s administration, had a 12% increase in primetime, averaging 2.65 million viewers. It also accounts for 72 percent of post-election prime-time cable news viewership.
At the same time, it’s not a new phenomenon that fans of defeated presidential candidates stop watching partisan cable news after an election. MSNBC witnessed the same thing after Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016, but “resistance” liberals began flocking to the station shortly after Trump took office.
Fox News also saw disgruntled MAGA viewers fleeing the right-wing network after Trump’s 2020 loss, furious that the channel called out Joe Biden to Arizona early and accurately. was. The highly-watched network briefly ranked third behind CNN and MSNBC, but after President Biden took office, conservative viewers began tuning in again and it was once again the top-rated cable channel.
Neither CNN nor MSNBC have yet conceded defeat, pointing primarily to the historical tendency for a new president’s opponents to pick up steam after an electoral recession passes. Both networks touted their 2024 overall ratings wins in year-end press releases, with CNN boasting streaming and digital traffic.
“I’ll tune in again when the clown show starts,” Aunala told The Associated Press. “You have no choice. It’s happening whether you want to hear it or not. If you care about your country, you have no choice but to pay attention.”
Still, it could be a tougher time for the network than it was in 2016. The post-election viewership decline is worse than previous post-election downturns for CNN and MSNBC, as more Americans cut their cable contracts.
It also remains to be seen how each network’s corporate strategy will play out across the new administration. MSNBC’s parent company, Comcast, will spin off the network along with its other cable assets into a new company, ultimately severing the channel’s relationship with NBC News.
CNN, meanwhile, is leaning more toward digital platforms, introducing a new paywall feature, noting that its website averages nearly 150 million visitors a month.
As for what cable news networks can do to re-engage politically jaded people, some of those surveyed said that to expand their audience, “we need to talk about the issues and stop talking about Trump.” “I have to,” one person said.
“What I don’t see is it’s kind of their own fault,” Aunallah added. “It felt like they were talking about the election the whole time. Why would people want to keep watching even after the main event was over?”
