'CNN This Morning' Ratings Jump During Don Lemon's Hiatus
Feb. 23 2023, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
CNN anchor Don Lemon took a multi-day hiatus from his seat behind the table at CNN This Morning. The anchor's on-air break resulted in increased ratings for the network after many critics called for his removal altogether, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Lemon, 56, came under fire after he said presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was "past her prime," among a slew of awkward moments and argumentative dialogue with his colleagues.
Since Lemon was demoted to the daytime slot, the anchor's transition to the morning news has been rough — and viewers took note.
After Monday's CNN This Morning show, the network saw a 5% increase in viewership amid Lemon's absence, following backlash from alleged misogynistic comments and lack of chemistry with co-hosts Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.
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On February 17, the first day of the Lemon-free show, around 617,000 households tuned in to the broadcast.
On Monday, that number rose to an astonishing 678,000 households, according to Samba TV data reported by the NY Post.
The pattern continued on Tuesday, the final day of Lemon's hiatus when a whopping 709,000 households tuned in to the network.
The analytics firm Samba TV, that was responsible for the data, explained the relationship between the increased ratings and Lemon's recently stained image.
"Following the backlash from his remarks on presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age, Lemon’s two-day absence from the studio actually appears to have boosted the network’s average ratings," said Dallas Lawrence, Samba TV Vice President.
"Average viewership the two days following his comments was up 5% compared to the average daily viewership the week before," the vice president continued. "In fact, two out of the three most-watched days in the past eight analyzed were the days in which Lemon was absent."
Interestingly enough, additional data revealed a perplexing figure for female viewership amid the anchor's absence.
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According to Nielsen data, the new network saw a drop in female viewership over Lemon's hiatus.
While the anchor received heavy criticism for his comments towards the female presidential hopeful, Nielsen reported a 20% drop in female viewers who normally tuned in to the daily program.
Lemon returned to his spot on the morning show Wednesday, after he posted an apology tweet for on Twitter.
