The newest kid on the cable news block is Kaitlan Collins, host of CNN’s “The Source”. Although the show kicked off on Monday evening to good reviews, it failed to draw in ratings as compared to popular repeats of sitcoms and animated TV series.
According to the Nielsen ratings, Collins’ show brought in 540,000 viewers and 83,000 within the coveted A25-54 demographic, taking last place in the ratings for cable news throughout the primetime hour. Meanwhile, ‘Golden Girls’, ‘SpongeBob Squarepants’, ‘South Park’, ‘Seinfeld’, ‘Friends’, and ‘Modern Family’ re-runs secured their place on the leaderboard.
Seemingly, “The Source” failed to reach a level of recognition similar to other notable cable news programs, namely MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” which drew in 2.41 million total viewers, and Fox News’s “Hannity,” with 1.95 million total viewers. It also marked the lowest-rated Monday CNN has had at 9 PM/ET with A25-54 since January.
Kaitlan Collins’ entrance into the primetime realm came a few weeks ago, garnered by former network headline Chris Licht, who expressed his admiration of Collins’ “masterful performance” when she moderated a town hall with former president Donald Trump.
“She is a smart and gifted journalist who we’ve all seen hold lawmakers and newsmakers accountable,” Licht said in a memo. “She pushes politicians off their talking points, gets real answers — and as everyone who’s worked with her knows — breaks a lot of news.”
Licht’s cheerleading was short-lived. On June 1st, Chris Licht was fired as CEO of CNN by Discovery chief David Zaslav, who stated that although Licht “has a deep love for journalism and this business,” it “did not work out the way we had hoped.”
Further, insiders claim that Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, and Erin Burnett have “formed an alliance and are now running CNN” while the search for a new CEO is ongoing.
Only time will tell if Collins’ formerly praised program will make the cut and gain the success it needs to secure a seat in the cable news playing field. Though, if the show does not improve in ratings, it will be interesting to see what the trio of Cooper, Tapper, and Burnett have up their sleeves.
