Ratings rule CBS, not Trump

NPR reported, “CBS shifts to appease the right under new owner.”

The piece ran on and on for more than 2,000 words. What made this story remarkable was NPR somehow managed to delve into the management of a television network without mentioning the one word that is the key to everything on television—dramatic pause—ratings.

Well, lemme start by looking at the ratings of CBS News. Barely 1% of the nation watches the nightly news on CBS.

TV Insider reported on June 25, “As reported by AdWeek, citing Nielsen live-plus-same-day data ratings for the week of June 16, CBS Evening News, hosted by John Dickerson and Maurice Dubois, had 3.981 million total viewers and 526,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demo. This was not only down -4% in total viewers and demo to the week prior but also down -8% in total viewers and -15% in demo year-over-year.”

The story also said, “In comparison, NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas attracted 5.678 million total viewers and 820,000 in the key demo for the week of June 16. This was flat in total viewers compared to the previous week but down -3% in the demo. However, while the program was down -1% in total viewers compared to last year, it was up +11% in the demo.”

NBC has an audience roughly 50% larger than CBS.

The story also said, “According to Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight averaged 7.448 million total viewers and 1.038 million viewers in the demo for the week of June 16. This was up +3% in total viewers and +4% in the demo compared to the week prior. In comparison to the same period in 2024, the show was up +4% in total viewers and +9% in the demo.”

ABC has an audience almost double CBS’s.

The network tried to goose its ratings by dumping its anchor and changing its format to a more topical style. That failed. Its new owner is trying to make a radical change by trying to bring back objectivity.

NPR hates it, writing:

CBS’ new corporate owner has taken a series of concrete steps to address the concerns of the news division’s sharpest critics—particularly President Trump and his allies.

In recent days, the network selected a new ombudsman for CBS News with strong conservative credentials. It promised to run full, unedited interviews on a key public affairs show after receiving blowback from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. And it’s in talks to bring on a top news executive who believes the mainstream press is reflexively biased.

All of these decisions have come from top officials at Paramount under the new ownership of Skydance Media. And they represent a grand accommodation to Trump by CBS, known for its rich legacy of journalistic touchstones spanning back to the dawn of television news, including Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and 60 Minutes.

So many falsehoods, so few pixels.

The blowback from Noem was that CBS doctored her answer to a question, removing 25 seconds where she laid out the criminal record of Maryland Man. Unlike Florida Man whose misadventures usually begin with “hold my beer,” Maryland Man is an abuser of women and children.

What CBS censored from her answer: “This individual was a known human smuggler, MS-13 gang member, an individual who was a wife beater, and someone who was um so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors. And even his fellow human traffickers told him to knock it off. He was so sick in what he was doing and how he was treating small children. So, uh, he needs to never be in the United States of America and our administration is making sure we're doing all that we can to bring him to justice.”

NPR censored it by proxy by dismissing Noem’s legitimate complaint as mere blowback.

MSM hates Noem. MSM hates Trump. MSM hates Christianity. MSM is like Mikey in those Life cereal commercials. MSM hates everything.

Ratings matter to everyone in broadcasting and the Internet media because audiences generate the revenue. NPR and PBS no longer get taxpayer subsidies. The two now rely on donations and sponsorships just like everyone else. Ratings are basic to the story. To ignore ratings in reporting on broadcasters is the same as ignoring homicides, carjacking and armed robbery when reporting on crime.

MSM does that too.

But after a decade of hating on Trump for being Trump, NPR now has a reason to hate. He cut off their welfare checks.

NPR reported:

[The new owner of CBS] Skydance is run by its founder, David Ellison. He’s the producer (along with Paramount Pictures) of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible movie franchise, among other properties. He is also the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world and a vocal backer of President Trump.

Among the moves being discussed is one to bring a contrarian journalist on board to steer CBS News. Skydance is in talks to pay $100 million or more to acquire the buzzy digital news and opinion startup The Free Press, which has drawn a lot of headlines, paying subscribers, and investors in its 4 1/2 years. Outside analysts tell NPR the valuation appears high—above what the market might price it as being worth—yet is also an indication of Ellison’s desire to work with its founder, Bari Weiss.

Weiss' launch of The Free Press in 2021 was nearly pitch-perfect. It played into the backlash against the social progress movement of the previous year that presaged Trump's return to office.

Weiss delivered a blast at what she says is bias in the mainstream media, including at The New York Times, where she was an opinion editor. Among the examples of ensuing coverage: essays focusing on a perceived pro-Palestinian slant in the media's coverage of Israeli military's actions in the Israel-Hamas war and accusations that NPR’s reporting has a liberal slant.

Weiss sided with Israel. NPR sided with Hamas.

When someone buys a company, they make changes designed to increase revenues and to reduce expenses. That is what David Ellison is doing. He did that by having Tom Cruise make more Mission: Impossible movies. Making money is not a sin because money keeps people employed.

CBS News has been in the ratings toilet for some time. Its morning show is in third place among the three major networks—and those morning shows are where the money is, not the evening shows. George Stephanopoulos gets up at 4 AM to go where the viewers are.

The new owner of CBS wants to go where the viewers are. In its way, NPR’s misleading story admits the truth. The viewers are where Trump is, not where the liberals are.