CNN’s ‘S.E. Cupp Unfiltered’ Sees 34 Percent Growth In Total Viewership Since Debut

CNN’s ‘S.E. Cupp Unfiltered’ Sees 34 Percent Growth In Total Viewership Since Debut

Since moving from its ill-fitting mid-afternoon weekday slot on HLN, CNN’s S.E. Cupp Unfiltered has blossomed in its new home and time slot. Airing Saturdays at 6 PM and serving as the lead-in to The Van Jones Show and The Axe Files (the two shows share the 7 PM hour), the political debate program has experienced significant growth following its late August debut, all while attracting far more viewers than it ever saw at HLN.

Debuting on August 25th, Cupp attracted 606,000 total viewers and 152,000 in the key 25-54 demographic. The show followed that up with 142,000 demo viewers and 746,000 viewers overall on September 1st. This past Saturday, the program averaged 190,000 in the key demo and a total audience of 810,000.

From its debut to this past Saturday’s show, S.E. Cupp Unfiltered has seen its total viewership grow by 34 percent and its demo increase by 25 percent.

Also, this isn’t a case of all three major cable news networks seeing increased viewership at the same time. Fox News’ 6 PM hour posted 810,000 total viewers and a demo audience of 160,000 on 8/25 compared to 903,000 viewers overall and 134,000 in the demographic on 9/8. So, a slight gain in total viewership and a drop in the demo.

Same goes for MSNBC, which drew 783,000 total viewers and 113,000 in the demo this past Saturday compared to 138,000 demo viewers and a total audience of 762,000 on the 25th.

In its first three weeks on CNN, Unfiltered is averaging 161,000 demo viewers to lead its cable news time slot while pulling in 721,000 total viewers. Fox News has nabbed 121,000 in the 25-54 demographic while grabbing 787,000 viewers overall. MSNBC has drawn 120,000 in the demo and 766,000 total viewers.

CNN has also seen an immediate boost in viewership compared to the three weeks prior to Cupp’s debut. In the first three Saturdays of August, CNN averaged 137,000 demo viewers and a total audience of 529,000 during the 6 PM slot, Unfiltered is up 17 percent in the demographic and 36 percent in total viewership.

Will this be sustained growth? Or merely a momentary blip? We shall see.

[Image via CNN]

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.

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