Media top headlines July 27
In media news today, PolitiFact declares that claim Biden, Harris distrusted COVID vaccine under Trump is 'false,' an ESPN writer says he was troubled by the American flag at the Tokyo Olympics, and Biden calls a reporter a 'pain in the neck' following her question about the vaccine mandate for VA front line workers.
CNN’s "Reliable Sources" with left-wing host Brian Stelter hit another weekly low on Sunday in the critical demographic that is coveted by advertisers despite an attempt to promote the episode on Twitter with an image of the host in his signature shorts.
Stelter’s program attracted only 100,000 viewers in the key demo of adults age 25-54 for its smallest audience of the year in the category. The dismal turnout was an eight-percent drop from the previous episode, which was previously the lowest-rated edition of 2021.
CNN’s "Reliable Sources" with left-wing host Brian Stelter hit another weekly low on Sunday in the critical demographic that is coveted by advertisers. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for CNN)
BRIAN STELTER MOCKED FOR FILMING HIMSELF WITHOUT PANTS DURING CNN APPEARANCE
To put CNN's alarmingly low figure in perspective, there are eight college football stadiums in America that hold more than 100,000 people. But Stelter couldn’t draw a larger crowd of the 25-54 age demographic in a country with a population of over 333 million. Ironically, Stelter spent a portion of the program talking about NBC’s Olympics advertisers.
"Reliable Sources" isn’t just struggling with viewers from the group that pays the bills. It is also having a hard time attracting viewers of any age. Stelter’s program drew only 675,000 viewers on Sunday for its second-smallest audience of the year.
"Reliable Sources" has now failed to surpass the one-million viewer average for four straight months, despite receiving a boost in July when Richard Branson’s test flight for Virgin Galactic occurred during his program.
The most recent episode of "Reliable Sources" was down 53 percent among total viewers and 64 percent among the demo compared to the audience that tuned in when Stelter covered breaking news of the historic venture into space, instead of his usual formula of attacking conservative media.
Stelter promoted the episode with a photo that showcased his trademark thigh-exposing shorts, as he boasted about broadcasting from an "old carriage house" in Rhode Island. In March, Stelter filmed himself sporting similar shorts in an attempt to prove that hosting a TV show from home "humanizes the news."