Chris Wallace's Ratings Continue to Plummet With New Timeslot — is he Next on CNN's Chopping Block?
Sources claim Wallace is 'getting ichy' at CNN and wants to dive back into heavy-hitting political coverage.
May 10 2023, Published 12:30 p.m. ET
New timeslot, same outcome. CNN's attempt to move Chris Wallace to a new timeslot to garnish viewers failed as his latest Friday night ratings came in dead last among his competitors, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? had already suffered drastically low numbers after its first two seasons, leaving the network's boss, Chris Licht, to change his airtime in hopes the veteran host would attract a new audience.
Wallace's 10 PM ET Friday, May 5, failed to deliver and was worse than the week before.
Chris Wallace
According to Nielsen, CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? came in last place among both categories, losing to FOX News channel's The Ingraham Angle by roughly 300%.
The program also lost to MSNC's The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, ranking CNN #3 in cable news for the coveted timeslot.
However, another source pointed out that Wallace’s news program is primarily an HBO Max Show and is a streaming show at its core. The episodes drop on HBO Max Friday mornings and air on CNN at 10 PM that evening. The same source pointed out that a Sunday airing of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? maintained a strong 2nd place in cable news in the key P25-54 demo in a highly competitive timeslot.
We also learned that Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace posted substantial growth throughout its first season, with the full season P25-54 average audience +80% above the series premiere on September 25.
Licht vowed to bring in viewers when he took over for Jeff Zucker as the head of CNN last year. He replaced Zucker after RadarOnline.com exposed Jeff's secret affair with fellow network executive Allison Gollust.
Jeff Zucker with Allison Gollust
"Chris is a dynamic and creative producer, an engaging and thoughtful journalist, and a true news person,” David Zaslav, future chief executive of the combined Warner Bros. Discovery, said in his announcement about Licht. “He is a highly principled individual who is trusted, hard-working and makes every organization stronger, more innovative, and more cohesive.”
However, since taking over, Licht has failed to make good on his promise.
Before the controversial decision to move Wallace's program to a new timeslot, the CNN honcho was forced to make cutthroat changes to staff and talent. He also decided to move now-fired veteran anchor Don Lemon from primetime to mornings, which sparked a retaliation that Licht never saw coming.
Chris Licht
Not only did Lemon look at the move as a demotion, considering he was being forced to work alongside two less experienced female hosts, but he seemed to hold a grudge that he couldn't shake.
Don was given passes for several controversial instances, including "screaming" at his morning cohost Kaitlan Collins for "interrupting" him following a December 8th broadcast, having a second blowup on staffers, and age-shaming the entire female population.
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Don Lemon
It wasn't until Variety released an exposé detailing Lemon's alleged history of misogynistic and "diva-like" behavior in the newsroom that CNN finally took a stand.
Lemon alleged he was fired without warning last month — leaving everyone to wonder if underperformer Wallace will be next on the chopping block.
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