Former CNN staffers Chris Cillizza and Oliver Darcy did not hold back on Tuesday regarding the dismal ratings that the network is currently facing.
CNN averaged 498,000 total primetime viewership and 361,000 views in its total day viewership in the month of July, according to data collected by AdWeek. Cillizza and Darcy both highlighted how “disastrously bad” the network’s ratings are, particularly in comparison to MSNBC and Fox News.
“These numbers for CNN — from @oliverdarcy— are disastrously bad,” former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza said on X.
These numbers for CNN — from @oliverdarcy — are disastrously bad:
“The cable news network averaged only 497,000 total viewers in prime time for the month of July, despite unrelenting waves of major news. MSNBC, by comparison, averaged 865,000 total viewers. Meanwhile, Fox News…
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) July 30, 2025
Cillizza cited Darcy, who writes a daily media-themed “Status” newsletter. After being at the network for seven years, Darcy announced his departure from CNN in August 2024.
“The cable news network averaged only 497,000 total viewers in prime time for the month of July, despite unrelenting waves of major news. MSNBC, by comparison, averaged 865,000 total viewers. Meanwhile, Fox News averaged 2.41 million viewers,” Darcy reported, according to Cillizza.
During a July 24 appearance on the “Sanity” podcast, Darcy criticized CNN’s executives for hurting the network’s ratings through its “softer” coverage of President Donald Trump and its sloppy attempts to increase its subscribers and digital programs.
“I think in reality, though, there’s a lot to be worried about in what’s going on in this administration,” Darcy said. “And by toning down, I’m not really sure this is the time to tone down. This is actually a very worrisome time in American politics and democracy. And Donald Trump is assaulting pretty much every tenet of this country, whether it’s Harvard or other education institutions or the media institutions or warping the FBI or with the Department of Health and Human Services. I mean, like you go down the list and there’s a lot of alarming things happening in all these agencies and a lot of assaults on just common American principles.”
“And so is it the time to be, I don’t know, more moderate in your tone? I don’t know, I would disagree,” Darcy continued.
On the same podcast, former CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota agreed that CNN has failed to take any action to increase its subscribers and ratings since her departure in December 2024.
In the second quarter, CNN averaged 538,000 total primetime viewers and 406,000 total viewers, according to AdWeek. The network witnessed a 13% drop in total viewership in comparison to the second quarter in 2024.
Its competitors had significantly higher ratings in both total and primetime viewership. Fox News averaged 2.63 million total primetime viewers and 1.6 million total viewers while MSNBC garnered 1.08 million in primetime and 596,000 total viewers, according to AdWeek.
CNN’s ratings have reached abysmal lows in recent years, as the network reeled in its lowest primetime viewership numbers since 1991 in May 2024.
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