Chris Cuomo’s return to primetime cable news was a ratings flop that landed him in last place against the competition.
The former CNN star’s premiere of his new show “Cuomo” on NewsNation pulled in just 147,000 total viewers on Monday night, according to figures released by Nielsen Media Research.
Cuomo — who as reported by The Post is being paid just $1 million a year by the fledgling network, a fraction of his compensation at CNN — fared poorly in the 25-54-year-old age demographic that is mostly coveted by advertisers — drawing just 8,000 viewers.
CNBC, Fox Business, HLN, and Newsmax all beat Cuomo in the 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen.
Cuomo’s viewership in the 25-54 demographic was smaller than the 7 p.m. hour that preceded his show on NewsNation.
Adding insult to injury for Cuomo was the fact that reruns of syndicated shows such as “Blue Bloods” on NewsNation as well as “Paw Patrol,” “SpongeBob,” “Seinfeld,” “Cocomelon,” “The Office” and “Bobs Burgers” all drew more total viewers and the 25-54 demographic.
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson maintained his dominance in cable news, drawing nearly 2.9 million viewers — or more than 20 times generated by Cuomo — on Monday as well as 445,000 in the 25-54 demo.
Chris Hayes, the host of “All In” on MSNBC, was a distant second. His viewership on Monday reached just north of 1.4 million — as well as 130,000 in the 25-54 demographic.
Cuomo’s former network colleague, CNN’s Anderson Cooper lagged behind in third place, pulling in 814,000 total viewers and 184,000 in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen.
Eric Bolling, the former Fox News anchor who now hosts “The Balance” on cable news upstart Newsmax, topped Cuomo, drawing 151,000 total viewers. Of those, 16,000 viewers were from the coveted 25-54 demographic.
The Post has reached out to NewsNation’s parent company Nexstar Media Group seeking comment.
Fox News is a subsidiary of Fox Corporation, which is the sister company of The Post’s corporate parent, News Corp.
Cuomo’s return to primetime cable television came after a nearly year-long hiatus prompted by his firing by CNN.
The onetime host of “Cuomo Prime Time” was ousted by then-boss Jeff Zucker after it was learned that he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, combat sexual harassment allegations.
The 52-year-old NewsNation anchor told his viewers on Monday that he “learned lessons” from his CNN exit.
Cuomo has pledged to be neutral and less partisan in his commentary.
“We are manipulated by manufactured division that only works to advance the interests of the fringe and the fake. It is only online and how that can be echoed on TV that distorts the reality,” Cuomo said on Monday night.
“The majority is not about left or right, you’re about reasonable. That’s why I’m going to rely not on reading tweets to measure your feedback, I want to go old school here,” he said while reading a phone number that viewers could call to interact with the anchor.
“It will be a time for us to discuss our society as adults in the room, not some raging radicals or somebody with keyboard muscles,” Cuomo said.
Additional reporting by Allie Griffin
