NEW YORK 鈥� Chris Cuomo envisions his new CNN prime-time show as a haven for independent thinkers who want their preconceptions tested. His challenge is finding enough people who want that on a cable news network.
He鈥檚 swimming against a strong tide. Fox News Channel and MSNBC are thriving with prime-time programming that appeals to partisans of each side, most emphatically with Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow in the 9 p.m. time slot where Cuomo Prime Time has landed.
Cuomo respects the success of his rivals, but believes it reflects a troubling trend.
鈥淲hat you see is people retreating to their corners 鈥� left and right, spreading apart,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where that gets us. I think the pursuit has to be for independent thinking 鈥� people who are open, people who are pushing those in power to do things for them, to find common ground and act on it, and to test arguments, not merely go to a place where you get told what you believe and hear an echo.鈥�
The numbers sharply illustrate how many viewers have retreated into tribes during the Trump era in the United States.
Fox has long been a favourite of Republican viewers, and the most-watched cable news network overall. During the last three months of 2016, encompassing the presidential election, MSNBC (1.64 million) and CNN (1.57 million) were roughly equivalent in prime-time, weeknight viewership, the Nielsen company said. Fast forward to the first quarter of this year, MSNBC averaged 2.36 million viewers and CNN had 1.16 million.
鈥淭he liberal audience was looking for a home and they found it on MSNBC,鈥� said Paul Sweeney, an analyst for Bloomberg.
In May, Hannity averaged 3.13 million viewers and Maddow had 2.6 million, making their shows two of the most popular programs on all of cable. CNN averaged 846,000 viewers in the time slot for the second half of Anderson Cooper鈥檚 two-hour show, Nielsen said.
Welcome aboard, Chris!
The market leaders have sharply different shows, most evident in their openings. Maddow鈥檚 meticulously constructed, often-meandering lead story is built on reporting about President Donald Trump and his cronies, while Hannity鈥檚 is a call to arms for Trump supporters, focused on the day鈥檚 talking points. Both are designed to energize partisans.
鈥淚 do not do that,鈥� Cuomo said. 鈥淚 do the opposite. I play against partisan perspective. Instead of telling you what to think, I question what people are telling you to think.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very different thing and I believe that the opportunity is that the more people are being pushed into the fringes, the more people are being left out,鈥� said the former ABC newsman and brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 鈥淭he independent thinker, the open-minded person doesn鈥檛 have anywhere to go. So we are building a home for them.鈥�
The competition will test whether news consumers believe what they say, said Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute, a journalism think-tank. People constantly say in surveys that they want news served straight and unslanted.
鈥淗uman nature being what it is makes it easier for them to watch things that they already believe,鈥� he said.
CNN doesn鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 dealing from a position of weakness; in a news-hungry environment, CNN was among cable television鈥檚 10 most popular networks for the fifth month in a row in May. Cuomo鈥檚 show is a long-term play for when the superheated partisanship cools down, said Michael Bass, CNN鈥檚 executive vice-president of programming.
鈥淗e has a passion and an energy that is perfect for prime time,鈥� Bass said.
