THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023

Cable News Ratings

Tuesday: Tucker Carlson crushes the cable news competition with Trump interview... Read our full Tuesday ratings analysis here.

Total Viewers (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
857
CNN THIS MORNING:
255
MORNING JOE:
980
ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE:
23
EARLY MORNING:
12
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1220
CNN THIS MORNING:
347
-- WAKE UP AMERICA:
73
MORNING IN AMERICA:
48
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1554
CNN THIS MORNING:
425
-- -- --
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
1651
CNN NEWS CENTRAL:
488
MORNING JOE:
938
NATIONAL REPORT:
98
--
10a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
1513
CNN NEWS CENTRAL:
503
ANA CABRERA REPORTS:
767
-- NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES:
33
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
1475
CNN NEWS CENTRAL:
599
JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS:
714
-- --
12p OUTNUMBERED:
1632
INSIDE POLITICS:
660
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
825 [12:30 PM-12:59 PM]
JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
90
--
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
1464
CNN NEWSROOM:
573
CHRIS JANSING REPORTS:
798
-- BLUE BLOODS:
95
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
1413
CNN NEWSROOM:
574
-- AMERICAN AGENDA:
102
BLUE BLOODS:
212
3p STORY, THE:
1529
CNN NEWSROOM:
622
KATY TUR REPORTS:
915
-- BLUE BLOODS:
257
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
1548
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
655
DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
1549
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
161
BLUE BLOODS:
285
5p FIVE, THE:
2997
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
707
-- CARL HIGBIE FRONTLINE:
195
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
139
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
2247
SITUATION ROOM:
586
BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
1574
RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS:
163
ELIZABETH VARGAS REPORTS:
63
7p JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME:
2560
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
639
REIDOUT:
1308
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
199
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
47
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
3712
ANDERSON COOPER 360:
671
ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES:
1354
ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
106
CUOMO:
143
9p HANNITY:
2700
CNN PRIMETIME:
565
ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT:
1503
PRIME NEWS:
96
DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
85
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
2084
CNN TONIGHT:
447
LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
1480
GREG KELLY REPORTS:
161
BANFIELD:
98
11p GUTFELD!:
1851
CNN TONIGHT:
356
11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
989
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
91
CUOMO:
63

25-54 Demo (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
136
CNN THIS MORNING:
72
MORNING JOE:
143
ROB CARSONS WHAT IN THE:
2
EARLY MORNING:
0
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
191
CNN THIS MORNING:
76
-- WAKE UP AMERICA:
12
MORNING IN AMERICA:
9
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
238
CNN THIS MORNING:
113
-- -- --
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
223
CNN NEWS CENTRAL:
104
MORNING JOE:
123
NATIONAL REPORT:
15
--
10a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
189
CNN NEWS CENTRAL:
117
ANA CABRERA REPORTS:
94
-- NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES:
7
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
172
CNN NEWS CENTRAL:
153
JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS:
103
-- --
12p OUTNUMBERED:
213
INSIDE POLITICS:
161
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
110 [12:30 PM-12:59 PM]
JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
12
--
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
207
CNN NEWSROOM:
135
CHRIS JANSING REPORTS:
120
-- BLUE BLOODS:
7
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
161
CNN NEWSROOM:
126
-- AMERICAN AGENDA:
11
BLUE BLOODS:
23
3p STORY, THE:
181
CNN NEWSROOM:
166
KATY TUR REPORTS:
129
-- BLUE BLOODS:
40
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
178
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
163
DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
168
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
10
BLUE BLOODS:
42
5p FIVE, THE:
319
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
165
-- CARL HIGBIE FRONTLINE:
11
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
21
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
285
SITUATION ROOM:
146
BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
166
RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS:
11
ELIZABETH VARGAS REPORTS:
15
7p JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME:
294
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
151
REIDOUT:
160
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
13
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
10
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
471
ANDERSON COOPER 360:
154
ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES:
186
ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
12
CUOMO:
36
9p HANNITY:
282
CNN PRIMETIME:
125
ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT:
191
PRIME NEWS:
12
DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
28
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
258
CNN TONIGHT:
100
LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
147
GREG KELLY REPORTS:
18
BANFIELD:
27
11p GUTFELD!:
272
CNN TONIGHT:
98
11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE:
124
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
12
CUOMO:
20

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Sara Fischer

CNN media analyst and Axios reporter Sara Fischer offered a contrarian — yet vitally important — take on the ongoing Fox News defamation suit Wednesday morning.

In an appearance on CNN This Morning, Fischer began with a solid summary of Tuesday’s stunning news from the Delaware courtroom where the drama centered on Fox’s Sunday disclosure that Rupert Murdoch is still, at least on paper, an officer of Fox News – not just the chairman of Fox Corp. That revelation drew the wrath of the judge in the case.

Fischer then offered a word of caution for those rooting for Fox News to lose the lawsuit.

“As a journalist” she noted being a “little bit worried about this case, because if Fox is to lose, essentially the precedent that is being set is that people who are powerful, that want to sue news organizations, you can, you know the bar gets lowered a little bit for to an extent if Fox loses this case,” Fischer argued.

“And so the thing that I'm watching is even let's say if Dominion wins, do they win for $1.6 billion? If they don't, to me, it suggests that that bar is not as low as it could be if they lost it all,” she added, noting that the final cost to Fox News will have legal significance for defamation cases going forward.

Props to Fischer for offering both an unexpected take in an unexpected environment and for hitting on a deeper and more fundamental issue behind a highly contentious and polarizing topic that has too many people cheering for their own team.

MEDIA LOSER:
Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson spoke with Donald Trump in the former president’s first media interview since being arraigned in Manhattan last week.

It was also Carlson’s first sit-down with Trump after it was revealed the Fox News host privately texted a colleague, “I hate him passionately.” In other texts, Carlson also called Trump “a demonic force” and “a destroyer,” stating shortly after the 2020 election that he “can’t wait” to be rid of him as a topic of conversation.

But none of that animus was anywhere near on display in Carlson’s interview on Tuesday night.

The top-rated cable news host gave Trump the full hour of his show while tossing him softball after softball with no pushback as the ex-president played his greatest hits.

“For a man who is caricatured as an extremist, we think you’ll find what he has to say moderate, sensible, and wise,” Carlson told viewers during the broadcast.

It's not like Trump doesn't have things to answer for. As Carlson himself revealed in private texts, he sees the former president as a malevolent "destroyer." In the years since we've had a riot at the U.S. Capitol and a presidential campaign that has Trump loyalists questioning if he's in it for the country or himself. Carlson didn't ask about any of that.

The interview was dull, uneventful, and void of the kind of tough questions we'd expect from a veteran journalist like Carlson. Or, at least, the Carlson that texts when the cameras are off.

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