The a.m. news show’s total viewership saw an 18.2% uptick following the co-anchor’s sexist remarks about Nikki Haley’s age
Almost a week after CNN’s Don Lemon made waves with a controversial on-air comment regarding Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s age, “CNN This Morning” saw a double digit rating increase for the co-anchor’s return to the show Wednesday after a brief hiatus, according to official live plus same-day Nielsen data.
As viewers tuned in to watch Lemon return to the show with the possibility of addressing the controversy live, Wednesday’s total viewership saw an 18.2% uptick with 383,700 total viewers and a 11.2% increase in the cable key demographic among adults 25-54 with 75,300 viewers in the demo on average during the 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. time slot as compared to last Wednesday’s broadcast prior to the controversy, which drew in 324,700 total viewers and 67,300 viewers in the demo.
Here’s how “CNN This Morning” broke down across the past week:
After declaring that Haley “is not in her prime” during Thursday’s “CNN This Morning,” which drew in 361,000 total viewers and 62,700 viewers in the demo on average across the 3-hour broadcast, Friday’s episode saw a slight 7.3% increase in the demo with 67,300 viewers in the demo while total viewership decreased by 11.7% with 318,700 total viewers. Lemon wasn’t present due to a scheduled day off.
Monday morning’s broadcast, which continued the co-anchor’s absence, drew in 309,300 total viewers — a 3% decrease from Friday’s total viewers — and 70,300 viewers in the demo on average, up 4.5% as compared to Friday’s demo viewership.
After CNN CEO Chris Licht announced Monday evening that Lemon would return to “CNN This Morning” Wednesday, Tuesday’s morning broadcast received 343,700 total viewers — an 11.1% uptick from Monday’s total viewership — and brought in 81,000 viewers in the demo on average, marking a 15.2% increase from Monday’s demo viewership.
When Lemon made his return to the show on Wednesday, total viewership was up 11.6% from Tuesday’s broadcast while demo viewership decreased by 7% from Tuesday’s demo viewership on average.
Loree Seitz
Loree joined TheWrap as a reporter in 2022 after interning at the publication during the summer of 2021. Loree has covered entertainment, film and television for TheWrap and has reported on the media industry and the cable news beat. She has also written for MovieMaker Magazine, where she interned in 2020.