Jake Tapper faces decade-low ratings despite extensive book promotion
- Jake Tapper's show averaged 525,000 viewers during a period from April 28 to May 25, 2025.
- This rating represents a 25% decline compared to the previous year, marking his lowest-rated month since 2015.
- The show's performance highlights Tapper's struggles in maintaining viewership despite significant publicity around his new book.
In the United States, CNN host Jake Tapper experienced his lowest ratings in almost ten years during May 2025. Despite a broad publicity tour for his book, 'Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' viewership plummeted. From April 28 until May 25, 'The Lead with Jake Tapper' only attracted 525,000 viewers, a significant reduction of 25% compared to the previous year. This decline took place as Tapper promoted his book across various platforms and through extensive appearances on podcasts and talk shows. Alongside the sharp ratings drop, the show faced additional challenges by competing against stronger viewership numbers from rival networks. Fox News programs garnered an impressive average of 3.3 million viewers in the same timeslot, while MSNBC programming drew slightly over one million. Tapper's program only captured 11% of the overall cable news audience, far below Fox News's dominant 68% share. This situation illustrates Tapper's struggles to maintain relevance in an increasingly competitive television landscape. Despite the low viewership, Tapper did not shy away from generating headlines during this period. He candidly admitted in interviews that he had not sufficiently covered former President Biden's age issues. He further sparked discussion by claiming that the alleged cover-up of Biden's mental decline could be more scandalous than Watergate. The juxtaposition of Tapper's book promotion and his declining audience reflects a complicated narrative surrounding his journalistic credibility and the impact of political dynamics on media viewership. Jake Tapper's attempts to revitalize his image through promoting 'Original Sin' have not produced the expected outcomes in terms of audience engagement or book sales. The book's initial sales figures indicated that only 53,737 units were sold during its debut, contrasting starkly with other high-profile publications. As a result, Tapper's effort to position himself as a significant voice in political journalism has produced diminishing returns, leading to questions about his future in the media industry and the effectiveness of his outreach strategies.