Why 2022 Will Shape Fox, CNN And MSNBC For Years To Come

It was already clear, at the end of 2021, that this year would be a transformational one for the cable news industry. With everything from key programming time slots that multiple networks still need to find permanent hosts for, to the closely-watched launch of CNN’s new streaming service — as well as whether recent changes at Fox News Channel will allow it to maintain a vice grip on the #1 position atop the cable news ratings charts — it was already a certainty that there’d be more news than ever to cover on the media beat.

And then: A shock resignation at CNN — president Jeff Zucker’s abrupt departure that’s saddled the network with another PR headache, one that might even imperil the forthcoming launch of CNN+. The cloud of multiple scandals, in fact, now hangs over CNN, including fired anchor Chris Cuomo reportedly still wanting to fight to obtain money he believes he’s owed from the network. While Fox, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength, having landed on a formula that keeps its ratings high, which also gives it the runway to try new things (like a Fox-branded AVOD weather service, and a late-night comedy show).

And then there’s MSNBC, which in the wake of Brian Williams leaving at the end of 2021, and will have big shoes to fill whenever Rachel Maddow decides to step back as expected from her full-time hosting duties when she returns from hiatus.

Some of these trend lines were already set at the end of December, allowing us to make a few predictions in an earlier piece about what’s in store for the cable news business in 2022. But life, as they say, comes at you fast — meaning, thanks to some extraordinary and unpredictable circumstances? It’s already time to revisit our earlier prognostications from December, given how comprehensively the cable news landscape has changed in less than two months.

We’ll start, of course, with CNN.

“I would like to see CNN evolve”

John Malone is a high-profile shareholder of Discovery, the media giant that’s in the process of merging with CNN parent WarnerMedia. Malone told CNBC back in November: “I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing.”

Set aside the exaggeration inherent in that statement. Of course, CNN already “actually” has journalists — the network employs hundreds, in bureaus around the world. Malone’s statement, however, implies a much bigger question: To what degree the network’s new brass at Discovery, which is a much less flashy media operation than the Zucker-era CNN, will take the opportunity of the scandals to overhaul CNN. Or “reset,” if you prefer — which is the word being used instead in some corners.

Market-research firm Kagan is also predicting that CNN will take a revenue and subscriber hit this year, yet another complicating factor as Discovery takes control of the business. Meanwhile, some of the biggest questions hanging over the news network:

• When will CNN+ finally launch? The network’s timing seems to have undergone a subtle shift, from Q1 to some undefined point this “spring.” On a related note: To what extent will Zucker’s departure imperil/delay/scuttle/or force a rethink about this major streaming-focused pivot for CNN, given how involved he was in shaping it and hiring big names like Fox’s Chris Wallace for it?

• Will CNN+ also remain a standalone offering — or, as people are starting to assume, will it eventually get lumped into a mega-bundle with HBO Max and Discovery+? (Matter of fact, CNN is reportedly conducting market research as we speak, to test the viability of just such a bundle.)

• Will CNN be able to reverse its ratings slide?

• Who will get the nod to replace Cuomo in the 9 pm hour?

The ‘M’ in MSNBC = Morning Joe

Next up, let’s turn our attention to MSNBC.

There’s been a whirlwind of announcements here in recent days, encompassing everything from Maddow announcing a two-month hiatus to an extra hour for Morning Joe, while the network’s 9 am host Stephanie Ruhle is preparing to take over hosting duties at The 11th Hour.

All this comes against the backdrop, by the way, of MSNBC beating CNN in the ratings across total day, prime and dayside for the month of January, according to Nielsen. Drilling down into the numbers, MSNBC’s primetime programming last month also more than doubled CNN’s audience, delivering 1.6 million total viewers compared to a little less than 700,00 for CNN (again, per Nielsen).

As for the extension coming April 4 for Morning Joe — which celebrates its 15th anniversary on MSNBC this year — taking over the 9 am ET hour will mean the Morning Joe franchise is expanding to a total of 25 hours a week for the network (which includes the team programming for Way Too Early in the 5 am hour). And that makes all the sense in the world, really. In an era of dwindling cable TV viewership, doubling-down on the familiar faces that are still drawing eyeballs is a sensible strategy.

Now, the big questions:

• What is Maddow ultimately planning after she returns from her current hiatus in April? She’s on a hiatus through April, and she’s already hinted at additional such breaks after that. Meantime, she could come back in April to her normal full schedule, or dial it back to some degree — or even pull back completely, as is increasingly being speculated. Also worth noting: Her hour lost a double-digit percentage of viewers during the first week of her current break.

• What does MSNBC’s streaming future look like in the short-term? Fox Nation, for now, is secondary to the network’s TV mothership, while CNN has gone on a massive hiring spree to beef up CNN+ (which will be stacked with tons of original programming). MSNBC’s streamable content at the moment, meanwhile, is kind of spread all over the place.

• Also, to what extent will MSNBC’s competing ideological dynamics ever settle into a more seamless equilibrium? As Puck News’ Dylan Byers explains it: “There’s Scarborough and his clique of establishment-friendly, centrist friends and media insiders; there’s also the straightforward NBC News programming that dominates the network during the day; and, for now, a woke-friendly Maddow-led run of primetime programming that is increasingly beholden to the liberal wing of the Democratic party. It’s confusing to insiders and outsiders, too.”

#1 in cable news for 20 years

That leaves us with Fox News Channel, which is comparatively the steadiest cable news ship right now among the Big 3.

Its ratings leadership on an annual basis over CNN and MSNBC now spans 20 years, and there’s every reason to expect that will continue — especially with a contentious midterm election season later this year, of the sort that’s always catnip to the cable news networks.

Fox’s panel talkshow The Five, meanwhile, has seeded hosts for two new blocks of programming: Greg Gutfeld’s late-night comedy show Gutfeld! at 11 pm ET and Jesse Watters’ new Jesse Watters Primetime at 7 pm. Then there’s the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, who remains the cable news ratings king and also a source of original programming for Fox Nation.

We’ve covered repeatedly here that the picture around Fox is more complex than a 1:1 matchup between conservatives and the network’s audience. Which is to say, there are plenty of Democrats watching regularly, as well. Pew Research and other data, in fact, bears that out. Fox News Media president Jay Wallace, meanwhile, told me a couple of weeks ago that the network’s success comes down to things even beyond the content — that production values, for example, are an important part of the equation.

Fox News, he told me, has always “been very good about keeping our eye on production. Our screen always looks dynamic. These are small things, but we’re storytellers — it’s a visual medium.

“This place has (also) been built on news and opinion, and we clearly spell out what you get. We’ve become too much of a hot-take country, so I always say: Watch this stuff. Listen to our interviews. At the end of the day, we’ve created this brand with a lot of smart people, and you have to listen to it for longer than someone who’s just looking for a hot take. You’ve got to give it a chance.”

Questions that interest me:

• The cable news game is more or less over. If past is prologue (and 20 years certainly represents a good chunk of data to go on), Fox News has clearly won. Does that necessarily translate automatically to streaming? I have my suspicion about the answer to that question, even though Fox Weather and Fox Nation aren’t at all trying to do the same thing that, say, CNN+ is. It seems to me that Fox’s streaming efforts at the moment are additive to the TV network, as opposed to CNN not only building out what feels like a complementary service — but one that outgoing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has reportedly said will account for most of the network’s business in the years to come.
• I’m also curious what else Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott has up her sleeve. She’s overseen some major programming changes and launches, some of which we mentioned above. In December, I said she’s one of just few a people who will have the biggest impact on the news media this year — and that’s even more true now than it was then.