'No coming back': Brian Stelter’s ‘Reliable Sources’ on CNN draws lowest ratings in TWO DECADES
CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter's show 'Reliable Sources' had its lowest-rated month in the younger A25-54 demo since June 2001, averaging only 79,000 viewers in A25-54 and 585,000 total viewers.
The ratings drop comes on the heels of allegations that new CEO Chris Licht is examining partisan talent, such as Stelter, as part of an attempt to make coverage more impartial. “It seems like the ‘breaking new’ banner may not be the only sensationalist thing Licht wants to break up with," a TV source informed RadarOnline.com, adding, "One thing is for sure, viewers are one step ahead of Licht in abandoning Stelter.” Furthermore, this quarter saw the show's lowest ratings in almost three years (since 2019). 'Reliable Sources' only earned 678,000 viewers in total and 111,000 among A25-54 in the second quarter of 2022. The scandal-plagued Stelter has been formally deserted by viewers, who have already betrayed him by asking for his dismissal. Stelter has been suffering for a while, making his stunning ratings decline all the more terrible.
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“I’m not sure how Licht will feel about someone who is a partisan ‘showboat’ on top of plummeting ratings,” an insider informed RadarOnline.com last week. “Stelter has performed so badly in the ratings that executives must be wondering how long the situation can last. Licht’s biggest concern has always been whether his stars who polarized people could ever recover. Regardless of whether Brian can, he’s cooked. He's lost viewers. There is no coming back from this position," the source explained.
Licht is assessing whether CNN's personnel can adapt to the new strategy, according to a recent Axios story. According to the article, anyone who doesn't follow orders "could be ousted." The story didn't specify which CNN anchors were under particular investigation, but it did suggest that Jim Acosta and Stelter were among the figures whose left-leaning opinions have angered conservatives. “To conservative critics, some on-air personalities, like Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter, have become the face of the network’s liberal shift,” Axios wrote.
Prior to Licht's appointment, CNN's new corporate company Warner Bros Discovery canceled CNN+ in April, only a month after it began. Stelter's daily edition of 'Reliable Sources' was among the shows axed as a result of CNN+'s demise. In December 2013, Stelter succeeded veteran Howard Kurtz, who abruptly left the network, as the show's permanent anchor. He might not, however, be occupying the host chair for very long. Stelter's Sunday morning show at CNN is in danger of being canceled after almost ten years of operation.