TV ratings: NewsNation’s new shows get low total viewership, do even worse in the demo

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

NewsNation’s new morning newscast and primetime show continued the network’s trend of dismal ratings on debut day Sept. 27, 2021.

“Morning in America,” which runs 7 to 10 a.m. eastern, had just 12,000 viewers.

By comparison, if you look at independent station WGN, which is owned by NewsNation parent Nexstar, its local news ratings for the 7 to 9 a.m. local time block typically hover around 55,000 to 60,000 people on average — and that only includes the Chicago market where the station is available (whereas NewsNation is available nationwide).

WGN’s morning newscasts also tend to be top in the adults 25-54 demo, even beating out competitors “Today,” “Good Morning America” and “CBS Mornings” in that category.

In another comparison, the show immediately preceding “Morning in America,” a rerun of “Murder She Wrote” at 6 a.m. eastern, got 13,000 viewers according to Nielsen estimates, meaning the network lost about 1,000 viewers between 6 and 7 a.m.

Looking at cable news as a whole, “Fox & Friends” drew nearly 1.3 million viewers at 7 a.m., CNN’s “New Day” around 388,000 and “Morning Joe” on MSNBC averaged nearly 700,000 across its 6 to 9 a.m. timeslot. “Wakeup America” on right wing network Newsmax was at 106,000.

Meanwhile, once “Morning in America” ended at 10 a.m. and the network switched over to a “JAG” rerun, the numbers jumped up to 102,000 viewers.

It peaked that day at 4 p.m. eastern with a “Blue Bloods” rerun that garnered 327,000 viewers.

“NewsNation: Rush Hour” at 5 p.m. lost about a two thirds of that audience, dipping to 110,000. “The Donlon Report” at 6 p.m. cut that in half — for 51,000, while 7 p.m.’s “On Balance” dropped a bit to 43,000.

“Dan Abrams Live,” the network’s other new show, registered 43,000 viewers as well. “NewsNation Prime” dropped to 39,000 at 9 p.m. (a big hour in cable news) and “Banfield” improved on that with 47,000 viewers at 10 p.m.

However, in the demo of adults 25-54, “Morning in America” fared even worse — registering just 1,000 viewers in that age bracket. “Dan Abrams Live” got only 3,000.

“Abrams” was facing “Tucker Carlson Tonight” at 3.2 million total (520,000 in the demo), “Anderson Cooper 360” at 801,000 (175,000) and “All In” at 1.2 million (195,000).

On the bright side, “Banfield” has shown some substantial growth, with only 17,000 people tuning in to its premiere edition back in March 2021.