Daytime television ratings of the leftist cable network, CNN, infamously tagged as “fake news” by President Donald Trump have dropped 41 percent from last year, while the conservative Fox News’ ratings ranked number one in total viewers across the 24-hour day on Labor Day weekend – putting it at the top for 35 consecutive weeks.

And CNN’s primetime viewership is not much better – dipping by more than a third, compared to last year at this time.

“CNN ranked No. 6 across basic cable in total prime time viewers, and No. 5 in total day this past week,” AdWeek revealed. “Despite the top 10 finishes, the network was -36 percent in primetime viewers, and -41 percent in total day viewers vs. the same week last year. The audience drop-off for CNN isn’t totally shocking – relative to that of its rivals …”

CNN sinking

CNN’s dilemma of dwindling viewership is compounded by its competitors’ rise to the top.

“Not only did CNN see a devastating drop from last year’s ratings, the network was once again bested by its competitors,” Breitbart News reported. “Fox News came in first place with during the day, while MSNBC came in second. In basic cable, CNN was in fifth behind ESPN and Nickelodeon, [and] during primetime, CNN slid down to sixth place, while ESPN came in first. Fox News, MSNBC, HGTV and the USA network all defeated CNN.”

In the months leading up to the midterm elections, CNN’s viewership has continued to decline by double digits.

“The network has repeatedly seen embarrassing viewership losses compared to 2017 …,” Breitbart’s Justin Caruso pointed out. “During one week in August, the network dropped 23 percent during the day and 24 percent in primetime – compared to the same week last year.”

The double-digit drop in CNN’s primetime was also registered for the entire month of August, when its viewership came close to dipping below the 1 million mark.

“CNN continued to severely struggle with its ratings – experiencing a 12-percent drop in primetime viewers and a massive 15-percent drop in total day – [as] CNN’s primetime viewership reached just 1,052,000,” The Daily Caller noted. “Despite the addition of CNN’s touted Chris Cuomo Primetime program, the network still failed to crack the top five in primetime ratings …”

Besides its embarrassing descent in the ratings, CNN suffered even more humiliation recently, as it continues to be exposed for its inaccurate news coverage – apparently affirming Trump’s “fake news” assertion on a regular basis.

“This week, it was announced that reporter Jim Sciutto would begin co-hosting a morning program for the network – despite the fact that Sciutto had recently made serious errors and was a key figure in CNN’s ongoing fake news scandal over their misreporting of a story about Michael Cohen’s knowledge of a Trump Tower meeting with Russians,” Caruso recounted. “Jeffrey Toobin – an analyst for CNN – also humiliated the network further recently by falsely blaming Antifa violence on black Americans.”

Competitors rising over dipping CNN

The president’s consistent lashing out at CNN for disseminating its relentless anti-Trump coverage over the years appears to be bolstering the ratings of other news choices – particularly the conservative Fox News.

“Fox News was No. 1 across cable news, not just in total viewers (2.33 million), but also in the key demo, delivering 431,000 A25-54 viewers in prime time – more than MSNBC’s 373, 000 and CNN’s 354,000, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data,” AdWeek’s A.J. Katz divulged. “Fox News was also was No. 1 in total day in the demo, with 268,000 to CNN’s 223,000 and MSNBC’s 207,000.”

Here’s a look at the Nielsen Ratings’ top-10 total-day viewership for basic cable presented by AdWeek:

Fox News (1,426,000) MSNBC (1,145,000) ESPN (1,023,000) Nickelodeon (833,000) CNN (789,000) HGTV (750,000) Investigation Discovery (706,000) Hallmark Channel (628,000) USA (590,000) History (554,000)

Hannity has a handle on things …

Fox News Channel’s (FNC) conservative host, Sean Hannity, has consistently proven to be one of America’s most popular and trusted news sources for television viewers.

“FNC claimed 11 of the top 25 cable telecasts overall in total viewers last week – including Hannity, Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Five, and The Ingraham Angle,” Katz added. “In fact, Hannity made up three of the top 10 telecasts in all of basic cable.”

While CNN licks its wounds inflicted by declined viewership and fake news, Fox News’ ratings continue to soar, as it is repeatedly landing at the top of the ratings war between cable networks.

“Fox News topp[ed] its cable news competitors for the 200th straight month in August – according to data released Tuesday Nielsen Media Research,” The Hill informed in late August. “Fox News' Hannity was once again the most-watched program in cable news – delivering an average of 3.079 million total viewers per night.”

In addition, Fox News continues to be the No. 1 choice for the business-minded American TV viewer.

“Fox Business Network also earned its 15th consecutive month as the top network in business news,” The Daily Caller’s Amber Athey noted.

A hiccup at the top …

Despite Fox News’ dominance at the top, an interruption in its No. 1 ranking was registered earlier this month by the leftist sports network, ESPN, which has a monopoly on cable sports – leaving viewers few alternatives for major televised sporting events.

“Yet the basic cable powerhouse lost its stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking in primetime,” Katz pointed out. “Its 14-week streak as the No. 1 basic cable network in the key daypart came to an end this past week, with ESPN seizing the top spot – thanks to its coverage of the 2018 U.S. Open.”

During the week of September 3, ESPN edged out Fox News on the basic cable top 10 list of primetime total viewers by just over 200,000 TV watchers, according to the Nielsen Ratings provided by AdWeek:

ESPN (2,561,000) Fox News (2,326,000) MSNBC (2,043,000) HGTV (1,385,000) USA (1,347,000) CNN (1,174,000) Hallmark Channel (1,070,000) Investigation Discovery (1,049,000) History (1,016,000) BET (1,007,000)

America’s burgeoning interest in major professional tennis tournaments – compounded by much attention in the news over tennis icon Serena Williams’ widely covered confrontation with an official during a match in which she alleged discrimination – appears to have been just enough to nudge ESPN over Fox News during Labor Day week.

“ESPN’s presentation of the U.S. Open was seen by an average of 1.04 million viewers – +9 percent from last year (949,000) and the most for the event since 2015 … ESPN’s first year of exclusivity (1,265,000),” Katz noted. “The most-watched telecast of ESPN’s presentation of the 2018 Open was the Women’s Championship on Sept. 8 – Naomi Osaka defeating Serena Williams–which earned an average of 3,101,000 viewers – ranking third all-time. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic winning his third U.S. Open and 14th Major title over Juan Martin del Potro averaged 2,065,000 viewers.”