Dismal ratings for cable TV networks have dispelled hopes of a “Trump bump” for viewership during the lead-up to the 2024 election

Many cable TV networks anticipate a surge in ratings every four years ahead of presidential elections

That was especially true during the 2016 and 2020 elections, when cable TV networks witnessed larger-than-expected rating hikes that they coined the “Trump bump”

In 2016, CBS’s chairman said the Trump bump “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS”

This year, though, the Trump bump has failed to materialize

During coverage of the 2020 Iowa Caucus, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox – the US’ three largest cable news channels – drew 2.5M, 1.8M, and 4.4M viewers, respectively

Those figures were in turn down 17% from 2016 Iowa caucus viewership

For this year’s event, CNN attracted 688,000 viewers (down 72% from 2020), MSNBC 1.15M (down 36%), and Fox 2.8M (down 36%)

For comparison, an NFL playoff game airing at the same time attracted 28.62M viewers

The same trend held true for Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary: 6M viewers tuned into Fox, CNN, and MSNBC between 8 PM and 11 PM, down from 8.6M in 2020 and 8.7M in 2016

During an interview last week, the CEO of The Washington Post (WaPo) cast doubt that this election cycle will boost news consumption

“I’m not convinced that will be the case,” he said

Visits to WaPo’s website fell from 161M in December 2019 to 116M last December, a 28% drop

Some analysts attribute the decline to the unpopularity of both major candidates and the growing likelihood that the 2024 election will be a rematch of 2020

One senior cable executive told the Financial Times there is “a high degree of fatigue” among viewers over both candidates

Others attribute the decline to people consuming their news from alternative, non-cable sources

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