CNN Ratings for Sober New Year’s Eve Broadcast Revealed

Perhaps the last surprise of 2022 was just revealed in the latest Nielsen TV ratings report. CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen reportedly scored big in the last few hours of the year, despite the network’s insistence that its hosts stay sober this year. After their raucous night ringing in 2022, this may be a good sign for the duo.

CNN typically sends out Cohen, Cooper and Don Lemon in New York City on New Year’s Eve where they carouse and report at the same time. However, they sent off 2021 with a bang – particularly Cohen – so this year the network decided that the on-air talent would not be allowed to drink at all. The result was a total audience of about 2.1 million viewers according to a report by Forbes – well ahead of its closest competitor, Fox News, with 1.2 million viewers.

Of course, the numbers aren’t the whole story, and it would be prudent to assume that the drinking ban wouldn’t draw such a crowd again this December. It’s quite likely that many fans tuned in for a time out of curiosity, having read about the new policy ahead of time. However, it’s worth noting that CNN drew its biggest audience in the final hour of the year, so many were with the network for the all-important moment when the year turned.

Whatever the reason, CNN’s live audience was up by 8 percent in the key demographic that advertisers care about most – adults ages 25 to 54. By contrast, the broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox all showed year-over-year declines for their holiday coverage. However, it should also be noted that Fox News had a higher average rating when accounting for the entire day, though not by much.

For those that don’t recall, the biggest controversy from the 2021 New Year’s Eve broadcast was arguably Cohen’s disdainful monologue about outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. It could be construed as partisan commentary, which networks like CNN typically try to avoid. Cohen also criticized Ryan Seacrest and the ABC New Year’s broadcast, along with other networks. He later apologized.

How exactly this information will play into the next New Year’s special won’t be clear for nearly a year now. So far, Cohen and his cohort have not commented on what these ratings mean to them.