CNN comes in fourth place behind Newsmax in Friday night ratings

It looks like CNN has more to worry about than Fox News Channel and MSNBC.

Rising conservative star Newsmax bested CNN in the Friday night Nielsen ratings, posting a larger audience in every hour of prime time, even though Newsmax is seen in 20 million fewer homes.

Newsmax notched 357,000 average total viewers from 8-11 p.m. ET Friday versus 335,000 viewers for CNN, according to Mediaite.

“Last Friday NEWSMAX became the nation’s third-highest rated cable news channel in prime time by topping CNN’s viewership,” Newsmax announced Monday on Instagram.

Fox took the night with 1.44 million average total viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.08 million.

CNN has brought up the rear for years behind right-tilting Fox and left-tilting MSNBC, but placing fourth to Newsmax represents a sobering milestone for the struggling network.

Newsmax reported that host Eric Bolling’s 8 p.m. ET show edged “Anderson Cooper 360” by 467,000 to 447,000 impressions.

Newsmax’s newly unveiled “Chris Plante The Right Squad” drew 325,000 impressions, surpassing CNN’s “Whole Story,” which had 293,000.

Mr. Plante couldn’t resist gloating. “My new @NEWSMAX show beat Manderson Pooper on Fake News CNN last Friday. Not bad for the first week,” he tweeted.

🫵Welcome HOME!https://t.co/dzvuTkSRCw pic.twitter.com/vh2x9mWNED

— 🐊ERIC BOLLING🐊 (@ericbolling) May 15, 2023

CNN host Chris Wallace also lost his 10 p.m. time slot with 263,000 viewers versus 278,000 for Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports.”

It wasn’t all bad news last week for CNN. The network enjoyed a ratings bump Wednesday, pulling in 3.3 million viewers for its town hall with former President Donald Trump at St. Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire.

Newsmax has seen its audience increase following the April 24 cancelation of Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which resulted in some viewers saying they would switch to Newsmax.

Fox’s ratings have dropped in prime time since dropping Mr. Carlson’s show a few days after reaching a $787.5 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.