Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Liberal cable news channel CNN is facing a Trump slump, as viewers desert the station and its left-leaning rival MSNBC following the US election.
One week after Donald Trump’s victory, both networks drew their smallest audiences in nearly a quarter of a century: a total day average of 46,000 for MSNBC and 64,000 for CNN among 25-54 year-olds.
The solution, according to CNN chief Mark Thompson, is to move beyond Trump drama. That was conveyed in an all-hands meeting reported by Puck last week.
Thompson, who saw a sales boost at his previous parish the New York Times in the wake of Trump’s first victory, plans to lay off staff and move to a digital first strategy.
His predecessor Jeff Zucker leaned into Trump, with close to wall-to-wall coverage of one big story. If liberal America’s gloom is driving it from the news, can Thompson’s NYT strategy of expanding into cooking and puzzles work for a cable news channel?
