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Former Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace Debuts New Sunday Show…Things Do Not Go Well

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2 years ago

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Former Fox News reporter Chris Wallace, along with CNN, debuted the new Sunday program he’s hosting called, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” which seems to be a rather appropriate question to be asking seeing as how the number of people who tuned in to watch it was abysmal. To answer the question, no one is talking to Chris Wallace.

Many individuals who are close friends or colleagues of Wallace tried to spin the disaster into something positive. It didn’t work. Clearly, nobody wants a Sunday show hosted by Chris Wallace. Leaving Fox News was probably the biggest mistake of the man’s career. And now he reaps his reward.

TheBlaze stated, “At 7 p.m. Eastern time last Sunday, Wallace’s show premiered on the network. Even though CNN promoted the show heavily, it drew just 401,000 total viewers and a measly 44,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research.”

Check out more details on Wallace’s big failure via TheBlaze report:

Comparing those numbers to the show’s competition and to other CNN shows that previously aired in the same time slot demonstrates just how poorly the “Who’s Talking” launch went. The numbers represent a 29% drop from the 7 p.m. overall network average in 2022 and a 64% drop among the 25-54 group. By contrast, “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy” over at Wallace’s former network, Fox News, drew a staggering 1.3 million total viewers, more than three times Wallace’s audience. It’s worth noting, however, that Gowdy’s show debuted in June 2021, so it may already have established a core audience.

Still, Wallace has had difficulty finding his niche since he left Fox earlier this year after 18 years with the network. He signed with CNN for a hefty salary between $6 and $10 million a year. At the time, Jeff Zucker was still the president of CNN Worldwide, and Zucker and the network were eagerly anticipating the launch of CNN+, a new subscription-based streaming service on which Wallace was supposed to star.

But like Wallace’s new show, CNN+ tanked. It debuted on March 29 and was canceled by April 28, leaving hosts and staff reeling. Meanwhile, Zucker resigned, and new president Chris Licht began to reshuffle the priorities at CNN. “Who’s Talking,” which was initially intended to air four days a week on CNN+, was then reworked into a Sunday evening show on network TV.

However, even though the launch of the program was disappointing, the brass at CNN is still feeling optimistic about its future. “We’re thrilled with the launch and Chris’s news-making interviews,” a spokesperson for the network said, completely in spin mode.

The unnamed individual pointed out that the three episodes of the show, which includes its premiere, were all made available for streaming on Friday and viewers who tuned in to watch it that way have not been included in the numbers for overall viewership.

“Live domestic TV viewers represent only a fraction of [the show’s] intended audience,” another source working for CNN is reported to have said, suggesting that ratings don’t give you the whole picture.

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But that, Mr. D’Souza, would imply that he ever had fans. I’ve never once talked to someone who said they like Wallace and tune-in to see his opinion on a hot button topic. CNN essentially bought a dud.

 



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