As the ever-dwindling evening news ratings suggest, legacy media is a shell of its former self and that includes cable news outlets as well.
So, what do you do when you are consistently losing viewers and relevance to independent media and podcasters? If you are CNN, you try to trick people into thinking they are watching something other than what they are actually watching.
CNN is being mocked for tinkering with the sets of two of its most high-profile shows – Anderson Cooper 360 and The Lead with Jake Tapper – to include oversized microphones and more casual backdrops à la new media.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Piers Morgan and Kmele Foster to discuss the hilarious changes and why they will do absolutely nothing to save the suffering network.
The New Sets
“Desperate” is one of the words being used to describe CNN’s latest attempt to revive its ratings-challenged lineup. Last week, the cable news network rolled out more casual, podcast-like sets for some of its biggest talent.
On Friday, Tapper set up shop in his office, which is papered in campaign posters and other knick-knacks, in an effort “bring you into the space where me and my team do our actual journalism and plan the show every day.” His guests for the show sat on a small couch to his right, further revealing the crampedness of the space.
Cooper, meanwhile, broadcast his program from a newsroom-inspired set sans suit jacket with the sleeves of his button-down shirt rolled up as he sat in front of a large microphone. Social media users described the set up as a cross between Edward R. Murrow cosplay and low-budget podcasting.
Missing the Point
While Morgan joked that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, he said his former employer is missing the point of what actually makes new media successful. “They are trying to look like us, but they don’t… People turn to us [because] they know what’s happening in the news; they want to know what to think about what’s happening in the news, and we tell them. We give them strident, honest opinion. Take it or leave it. But at least no one is controlling us. We’re our own bosses. We say what we believe in the moment. We’re not afraid to change our view if facts change. We are unencumbered spirits,” he explained. “They cannot say the same. They’re still living by the old mainstream media television rules, and they are like a straight jacket.”
Morgan said that while corporate media and others try to discredit podcasters and YouTubers, there is no denying where the audience is. “I’ve got four kids from 32 down to 14. None of them watch mainstream television at all. They all watch YouTube,” he said. “I do think they’ve got a problem about what they are going to try to do going forward because the average age of a CNN viewer is nearly 70. The average age of my viewers and your viewers is about 45.”
Both Morgan and Foster agreed that Tapper’s office filled with failed presidential campaign posters and other memorabilia seems pretty cool, but Foster said it will not move the needle on his ratings. “The fact that they are trying so hard to kind of lean into the podcaster aesthetic is telling. I think it’s appropriate that they’re trying to find things that work, but what they have to understand is that this is not just about aesthetics,” he noted. “In many respects, the reason why independent journalists, and independent media, and independent news commentators are finding success is precisely because they are not CBS, CNN, MSNBC.”
Megyn agreed. “It’s not the set, it’s the person and the messaging,” she said. “My audience disagrees with me all the time. A lot of them are supportive of [the Iran] war. That doesn’t mean that they leave. They’re interested in hearing the ideas kicked around honestly by somebody who, overall, they trust.”
And therein lies the actual issue for CNN. “The problem for CNN is they sacrificed that long ago,” Megyn concluded. “It’s going to take more than a set design to get it back.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Morgan and Foster by tuning in to episode 1,279 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.