Chris Cuomo’s return to prime-time tv has been anything but triumphant.
The former CNN star, once a family title anchoring a nightly show that drew thousands and thousands, is now reaching only a fraction of that viewers on NewsNation.
According to recent Nielsen figures, Cuomo’s scores are down almost 90% total and 95% in the key 25–54 promoting demo in contrast with his CNN run.
Once CNN’s primetime star, Chris Cuomo’s new NewsNation show is averaging just 164,000 viewers this quarter.
This quarter, his NewsNation program is averaging just 164,000 whole viewers and 15,000 in the demo. By distinction, “Cuomo Prime Time” on CNN averaged 1.4 million viewers and 374,000 in the demo during its three-year run.
The decline is particularly stark against Cuomo’s closing quarter at CNN in late 2021 — a period when his scores had already dipped amid his suspension and firing.
Even then, he drew 797,000 whole viewers and 165,000 in the demo, roughly 5 occasions the viewers he now attracts.
Cuomo’s fall from cable prominence comes despite NewsNation positioning him as the face of the fledgling community when he launched his show in October 2022.
Instead of lifting the channel into the mainstream, his program has struggled to gain traction.
The 8 p.m. slot has only magnified the hole. Fox News’ Jesse Watters averages 3.1 million viewers and 310,000 in the demo; MSNBC’s Chris Hayes pulls 874,000 / 85,000; and CNN’s Anderson Cooper holds 539,000 / 92,000.
The anchor’s “Cuomo Prime Time” once drew 1.4 million viewers a night time before his 2021 firing. Jeremy Freeman/CNN
Even Newsmax’s “Finnerty” tops Cuomo in the demo, with 319,000 viewers and 25,000 demo.
The numbers underscore how far Cuomo has fallen since his CNN peak in early 2021, when he recurrently drew 2.4 million viewers and more than 600,000 in the demo during the peak of the pandemic.
By the time he was compelled out for advising his brother, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as the governor confronted sexual harassment allegations, his scores had slid but still vastly outpaced what he delivers now.
Even in his last quarter at CNN, Cuomo averaged almost 5 occasions the viewers he now attracts. CNN
Cuomo’s struggles on NewsNation mirror the fledgling community’s uphill battle to compete with Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.
Launched in 2020 as a rebrand of WGN America, the channel promised centrist information protection but has yet to construct a robust id or loyal viewers.
Despite heavy investment and high-profile hires including Elizabeth Vargas and Leland Vittert, the community stays a scores afterthought.
The Post has sought remark from Cuomo and NewsNation.
Fox News is owned by Fox Corp — sister company to The Post’s company guardian News Corp.
