Despite all the hype behind veteran journalist Jake Tapper’s move to CNN and his new show “The Lead,” yesterday’s Nielsen ratings suggest the former ABC White House correspondent has some catching up to do.
Tapper, described by CNN president Jeff Zucker as “the face of new CNN,” had a lackluster debut on Monday, barely drawing a scratch (50,000 viewers or more) in the coveted 25-45 demographic.
Numbers courtesy of Nielsen Media Research:
Monday 3/18 at 4PM
Your World/FNC: 1,102,000 (172,000 in 25-54)
Making it America/HLN: 779,000 (211,000 25-54)
Martin Bashir/MSNBC: 479,000 (100,000 in 25-54)
Lead with Jake Tapper/CNN: 400,000 (87,000 in 25-54)
Based on data for 2013 to date, CNN at 4 p.m. with Tapper at the helm is down 40 percent in the 25-54 demo and down 30 percent in the overall P2+ audience. For the month of March 2013 to date, Tapper is down 26 percent in 25-54 demo and down 19 percent in P2+.
Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto” continues to lead overall at 4 p.m., beating both Tapper and MSNBC’s Martin Bashir combined in total viewers. HLN’s “Making it America,” with its strong focus on the Jodi Arias trial over the last few weeks, continues to hold strong in the 25-54 demo for the time slot.