MAYBE CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR CAN SING, OR DANCE, OR DO SOMETHING – AT 5:56 P.M. ET:

CNN is having a terrible time in the ratings.  All cable systems are being hurt by the Olympic coverage at NBC, but CNN is being tortured.  From TV Newser:

CNN hit new low viewership totals during prime time Friday night (8-11pm) in both Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers.

Up against NBC's Olympic Opening Ceremony coverage, CNN averaged just 85,000 A25-54 viewers during Campbell Brown (8p), Larry King (9p) and Anderson Cooper (10p). An average that low has not been seen since May, 23, 2001. And the Total Viewer average of 382,000 was the lowest since Dec. 23, 2005.

And while all the cable news channels saw reduced viewing levels due to the massive audience that flocked to NBC -- only CNN saw its audience cut in half from Thursday night in both younger viewers and Total Viewers.

COMMENT:  CNN has just become unappealing.  Wolf Blitzer still runs a pretty good show, but the rest of the operation seems very routine and even lazy at times.  Criticize Fox all you want, but the place is alive, and its news broadcasts, as opposed to its commentary shows, play it straight.

CNN is in desperate need of ideological diversity.  There's a stultifying atmosphere about its operations.  Like a dull novel, you can put it down.

February 17, 2010