In the iconic Western movie “Shane,” the title character is wounded while gunning down the villains. The hero then rides out of the valley and off the screen — presumably to die.
CNN, the liberal news network that banked everything on vilifying former President Donald Trump, looks to be following suit. In this version of the classic tale, however, the hero is Everyman who changes the television channel and in doing so wounds the villain — possibly mortally. The villain is named CNN.
Last week, CNN’s viewership fell behind the History Channel and INSP during prime time, according to the New York Post.
Unless you’re a fan of old Westerns, you’ve probably never heard of INSP. It’s a South Carolina-based channel founded in the late 1970s by the Christian televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Once a ministry network, it now plays Western TV shows and movies.
My favorite network INSP beats CNN in network ratings from 8 pm to 11 pm 😃 pic.twitter.com/iAm1nAuP0D
— Son Of Liberty (@METALMAYHEM2021) December 16, 2022
It looks like there’s a hankering for the old days when people prefer watching history documentaries and Westerns from yesteryear.
CNN — the “most trusted name in news” — had an average of 538,000 nightly viewers in the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. prime time block from Jan. 15 until Jan. 21. The numbers came from Nielsen’s most recent data, according to the Post.
CNN was the 10th most-watched channel on cable. It not only came in behind FOX and MSNBC but trailed Hallmark, The History Channel and INSP.
Is CNN a failed news network?
According to the website, INSP was launched in 1990 and “is the network millions of Americans turn to for high-quality television programs that honor timeless, traditional values” and is distributed “to more than 80 million U.S. households through more than 2,800 cable systems” along with DISH Network.
Good old traditional values seem to be making a comeback. It’s about time.
Not even coverage of the Iowa caucus — featuring CNN’s old nemesis Donald Trump who trounced his competition — was able to give CNN much of a push. CNN’s vilification of Trump looks to have backfired. It’s old news.
Fox News took first place in the ratings race for the week with 2.091 million viewers in prime time, according to Nielsen. Coming in second and third were a couple of woke networks, Disney-owned ESPN with 1.653 million prime-time viewers and MSNBC, the ultra-progressive cable news channel, with 1 million viewers in prime time for the week.
ESPN cashed on the week’s NFL playoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles. People are going to watch their sports, no matter the channel they happen to be on.
As for MSNBC? There are still a lot of wacko progressives out there who would sooner eat rancid eggs than watch a show on INSP. But it looks like they don’t watch much CNN either.
CNN has been in a period of transition since New York Times and BBC boss Mark Thompson took the CEO reigns after Chris Licht was canned, according to the Post. Licht got the boot last year after 14 months in which the network failed to produce acceptable ratings — the drama surrounding CNN’s on-air personnel didn’t help.
Thompson seems to be overseeing a transition into an even lower pit of hell if the latest Nielsen numbers are any indicator. In other words, CNN looks to be mortally wounded and riding off the screen.
People like stories where the villain dies in the end.
