Trump Won ... CNN and MSNBC Lost

Outrage works on cable news ... but not forever.

Well, my friends, it looks like CNN and MSNBC are learning the hard way that you can’t live on a diet of Trump outrage forever. Last month, Donald Trump got re-elected, and ever since, these networks have been bleeding viewers faster than a screen door on a submarine.

Forgive me for stating the obvious: Trump has been the gift that keeps on giving for cable news — for ratings, anyway. When he was in office the first time, CNN and MSNBC thrived on outrage. They turned Trump into a 24/7 villain, the perfect bad guy for their audience to watch — and hate.

For the record, I’m not saying he didn’t deserve a lot of the flak he got. But after a while, we got it — Orange man bad. Everything he does … bad. It worked for a while. But now it looks like CNN and MSNBC’s ratings success by bashing Trump is in the rearview mirror.

Here’s the problem: now that he’s back, the story is old. The first time around, people couldn’t look away. It was chaos. It was drama. It was a ratings bonanza. But now? It’s like watching a rerun of a show that stopped being interesting three seasons ago. The viewers who used to tune in to watch the Trump takedown show … are over it. At least it looks that way, for now anyway. You never know what Donald Trump might do that would turn things around, that would bring MSNBC and CNN back from the brink. With Trump, anything is possible.

So, nothing here is an endorsement of Donald Trump. Most of you know how I feel about the man. But let’s be honest — these networks have spent the last eight years crying wolf. Remember “Trump-Russia collusion”? The endless “breaking news” banners for stories that fizzled out faster than cheap fireworks?