CNN’s Trump bump came to a quick halt.
The ratings-based cable news network drew just 335,000 average viewers during its three-hour primetime block on Friday — putting it behind not only Fox and MSNBC, but also Newsmax.
The sad numbers came two days after CNN pulled its highest ratings in two years from the controversial town hall with former President Donald Trump.
However, giving the lightning rod Republican a forum to reiterate his conspiracy theories — including his claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” — sparked internal outrage and an apparent backlash from his traditional left-wing viewerbase.
Anderson Cooper, the network’s most-watched host, took to the air on Thursday and told his irate viewers that they had every right to never watch CNN again.
It seemed that many of them took up the offer.
The Friday edition of Cooper-hosted “AC360” at 8 p.m. drew 447,000 viewers, well below his usual average.
Ratings only got worse throughout the night, with just 293,000 votes for “Whole Story with Anderson” at 9 p.m. and 263,000 for “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” — the lowest rated hour since the show launched on CNN in September. according to Mediaite.
CNN’s rivals at Fox News won the primetime battle with an average of 1.44 million viewers, while MSNBC had 1.08 million.
The right-facing channel Newsmax — which launched in 2014, more than three decades after CNN’s founding — averaged 357,000 prime-time viewers.
CNN didn’t fare much better in the key 25-54 demographic for advertisers, with 87,000 viewers – compared to 109,000 for Fox and 98,000 for MSNBC.
It did manage to surpass Newsmax, which pulled in 45,000 in the demo.
CNN’s drop in ratings illustrates the challenge network boss Chris Licht faces in changing the news channel since parent company Warner Bros. Discovery commissioned him more than a year ago.
Town Hall with Trump drew 3.3 million viewers on May 10, but followed months of declining ratings.
In March, CNN reported a drastic 61% drop in viewership — the steepest of the three major cable news giants.
CNN also shut down April — the same month, Licht celebrated his one-year anniversary in the role of CEO and fired longtime host Don Lemon for misogynistic comments on-air.
