‘CNN This Morning’ levels out on par with ‘New Day’ on second day

By Michael P. Hill Article may include affiliate links

After a disappointing debut, “CNN This Morning” appeared to increase its ratings by 4% on its second day, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022.

The show averaged 404,000 viewers across its three hours, up from an average of 387,000 on Nov. 1, 2022, according to data from Nielsen.

Wednesday’s show is in line with what the “CNN This Morning” predecessor, “New Day,” was getting on average.

The numbers could be a sign that word of the show is spreading via word of mouth. CNN has continued to promote the show as well.

That said, it’s also not a huge increase and could be considered a “margin of error”-type anomaly in the data.

More importantly, the show essentially just gained back the approximately 17,000 people it lost in its debut, meaning there’s been little to no net gain.

The show will also need to maintain at least some ratings growth over the next few weeks and months to help turn around the network’s morning fortunes, though it’s an uphill battle with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” a strong second to Fox’s “Fox & Friends.”

The morning daypart has been a thorn in CNN’s side for over two decades, with efforts including investing heavily in “American Morning” featuring original co-anchors Paula Zahn and Anderson Cooper that debuted the day after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The show had been announced and launched early because of the news surrounding the tragedy.

Multiple anchors and format changes were seen until 2011, when the network canceled the show to launch “Early Start” and “Starting Point,” two separate morning shows that were often co-marketed. “Early Start” still airs right before “CNN This Morning,” though its talent and format has changed.

That was followed by “New Day” in 2013, which also went through its share of anchor changes and format tweaks.