In April, as Republicans were throwing their weight behind Mitt Romney and the lengthy, combative presidential primary process was drawing to a close, CNN’s senior vice president and Washington bureau chief Sam Feist presented his staff with a “CNN Half-time Election Report.” 
 
 The four-minute video, shown at the quarterly staff meeting, was a highlight reel of CNN debates, primary night coverage, and interviews interspersed with laudatory reviews. CNN, the video reminded its staff, had hosted more debates than any other network and landed some of the most significant interviews in the election cycle. 
 
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 “And It’s Only Halftime…” the video concluded. 
 
 In fact, the scoreboard, according to many inside and outside the network, doesn’t look nearly as good as the video suggests. 
 
 CNN, the founder of the cable news genre, is now registering its lowest ratings since the first Gulf War. In the second quarter of 2012, the network attracted fewer viewers than at any time in the past 21 years, it was reported Tuesday. An average of 446,000 people now watch CNN’s primetime programming while a mere 319,000 watch its daytime programming — declines from 2011 that are at least twice as severe as those suffered at Fox News and MSNBC. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Contempt battle explodes on CNN) 
 
 Primetime programming is described by media insiders and academics as lackluster and stale. Several staffers at the network complain of low morale and an absence of editorial leadership. Earlier this month — in a further sign that all is not well — the network announced that it intended to cancel poorly rated politics show “John King USA.” 
 
 One former executive said CNN faces an “identity crisis.” 
 
 While CNN struggles to make 24-hour news compelling, its competitors at Fox News and MSNBC have redefined the industry. They eschewed traditional, straight-forward newsgathering in favor of partisan, personality driven analysis — a model that is increasingly successful in an era of hyperpartisan politics, but one that CNN has resisted even as its ratings continue their slow and steady decline. 
 
 There is now, according to industry experts, a very real possibility that without a coherent strategy, the only nonpartisan network left on cable could become largely irrelevant to the national conversation. 
 
 “News has become much more personality driven and much more opinionated since CNN launched 32 years ago, and CNN has had difficulty moving in that direction,” Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media, told POLITICO. “They move in fits and starts, and they don’t do a very good job of it.” ||||| CNN continued to struggle during the second quarter of 2012. The network had its lowest-rated quarter in 21 years (since 1991) in primetime, and in 11 years (since 2001) in Total Day. 
 
 The ratings for Q2 2012: 
 
 Primetime (Mon-Sun): 446,000 Total Viewers / 129,000 A25-54 
 
 446,000 Total Viewers / 129,000 A25-54 Total Day (Mon-Sun): 319,000 Total Viewers / 95,000 A25-54 
 
 In Total Day, the network is down -35% in Total Viewers and -45% in the A25-54 demo. In primetime, CNN is down -35% in Total Viewers and -41% in the demographic. It is worth noting that Q2 2011 had several notable news events that boosted cable news ratings, including the death of Osama Bin Laden and the Royal Wedding. 
 
 “Erin Burnett OutFront” is down -33% in Total Viewers and -45% in the demo since last year, when John King was the 7pmET anchor. “Anderson Cooper 360″ at 8pmET is down -19% in Total Viewers and -23% in the demo compared to last year, when “In the Arena with Eliot Spitzer” aired in the timeslot. “Piers Morgan Tonight” is down -29% and -33%, respectively. 
 
 There is some good news for CNN in the form of monthly ratings. Compared to May 2012, which marked a 20-year ratings low for the network, CNN has grown +8% in Total Day and +6% in M-F primetime in June. Individual primetime programs have grown among younger viewers: Burnett’s program is up +24%, while Cooper’s is up +5% and Morgan is up +9% for the month. ||||| Coming off its least-watched month in primetime in 20 years in May, CNN has taken another big ratings blow: The cable news network has registered to its lowest-rated quarter in primetime since 1991. For this year’s second quarter, CNN hit a low among total viewers and the key adults 25-54 demographic, with all primetime programs posting steep declines. The network averaged 446,000 total viewers and 129,000 in the 25-54 demo in primetime. Compared to last year’s second quarter, that’s down 35% and 41%, respectively. Rival Fox New Channel, meanwhile, with 1.79 million primetime total viewers on average, was down 1% from its 2011 second-quarter numbers. FNC lost 14% in the 25-54, bringing in 355,000 viewers. MSNBC was down 13% in total primetime viewers, with 689,000 on average, and down 17% in the 25-54 with 217,000. The quarter ran March 26-June 22. 
 
 Individually, CNN shows hemorrhaged viewers heavily compared with last year. Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room, which airs from 4-6 PM ET, was down 42% in 25-54 and 26% in total viewers. His show is expanding to three hours beginning Friday, taking over CNN’s recently cancelled John King U.S.A. At 7 PM, Erin Burnett OutFront, which debuted in October replacing a then-moving John King U.S.A., was down 45% in 25-54 from last year’s second quarter and down 33% in total viewers. Piers Morgan Tonight, which replaced Larry King Live in January 2011, was down 33% in the 25-54 and 29% in total viewers. Pulling double duty, Anderson Cooper took a double hit: Anderson Cooper 360 at 8 PM was down 23% in the 25-54 and 19% in total viewers, and its 10 PM airing was down 48% in the demo and 44% in viewers. The top-rated cable news shows for the second quarter were all FNC shows, with The O’Reilly Factor and Hannity sitting at No. 1 and No. 2. 
 
 Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here. ||||| MSNBC ranked as the No. 1 network across all of cable in total viewers for the first time in its history, according to Nielsen data. 
 
 For Wednesday, Aug. 16, MSNBC averaged 1.52 million viewers for the total day across all of cable, edging out second place Fox News, who averaged 1.5 million. CNN ranked fourth among all cable networks for the day with 1.13 million total viewers. Nickelodeon was third with 1.17 million. However, in the key adults 25-54 demographic, CNN was number one among the cable news networks for the total day, averaging 381,000 viewers in that measure. Fox News was second in the demo for total day with 353,000 viewers, and MSNBC was third with 343,000. 
 
 In primetime, MSNBC was also first in total viewers among the cable news networks with 2.61 million viewers. Fox News was second with 2.4 million. CNN was third with 1.59 million. In the key demo for primetime, MSNBC was first with 613,000. Fox News narrowly outpaced CNN for second place with 560,000, with CNN averaging 557,000. 
 
 Across all of broadcast in primetime, Wednesday’s episodes of “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” were among the top 10 shows of the night in total viewers, with Maddow averaging 3.25 million viewers at 9 p.m. and O’Donnell averaging 2.54 million at 10. They were both the highest-rated and most-watched cable news programs in their respective time slots, with Maddow also nabbing 778,00 viewers in the key demo and O’Donnell nabbing 597,000. 
 
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 Airing against Maddow, Fox’s “The Five” averaged 2.31 million viewers and 577,000 viewers in the demo. CNN’s Anderson Cooper averaged 1.52 million viewers with 550,000 in the demo. At 10 against O’Donnell, Fox’s Sean Hannity pulled in 2.46 million viewers and 594,00 in the demo. CNN’s Don Lemon drew 1.58 million viewers and 542,000 in the demo. 
 
 At 8 p.m., CNN’s Anderson Cooper was first in the demo with 580,000 viewers but third in total viewers with 1.67 million. Fox’s Tucker Carlson was second in the demo with 508,000 but first in total viewers with 2.43 million. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes was third in the demo with 463,000 but second in total viewers with 2.01 million. 
 
 Cable news has been in overdrive for the past few days after violence broke out at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend at which a number of white supremacist groups protested the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. One protester was killed after a car driven by an alleged white supremacist plowed into a group that was blocking a roadway. Earlier this week, President Trump held a press conference at Trump Tower in New York in which he again asserted that “both sides” were to blame for the violence.
– CNN's glory days are unquestionably behind it. Want proof? Q2 of 2012 clocked in as its lowest-rated quarter in 21 years. In fairness, Deadline notes that all three cable news networks reported a dip, but when you stack up the numbers, things looks pretty gloomy for the network: It averaged 446,000 total primetime viewers to Fox News' 1.79 million; even MSNBC eked out 689,000. Not even the dashing Anderson Cooper could save the day—his show reeled in 19% fewer viewers. On the heels of the dour numbers, the media weighs in: TVNewser tempers CNN's 35% drop in primetime viewers year over year, pointing out that Q2 of 2011 was a biggie: Osama bin Laden was killed and Kate and Wills tied the knot. (By comparison, Fox News was down 1%; MSNBC, 13%.) And a big part of the network's problem, posits the New York Times, is its avoidance of hyperpartisan analysis, which helps fill in the gaps when there's just not much going on. It "has yet to find an answer to what to do when news is light," writes Bill Carter. Politico goes behind the scenes, talking to staffers and former execs who report that morale is low and cite a lack of editorial leadership. "It’s frustrating to hear our leadership talk about the exemplary journalism we do, then turn on the TV during the day and see CNN doing another story about 'birthers' or 'tips for dining out alone,'" said one staffer, complaining about the lack of strategy. But one senior VP tells Politico that isn't so, saying its "clear" editorial direction rests upon "worldwide newsgathering and reporting a broad range of stories without picking sides." Still, Dylan Byers writes that "Cooper, once known for intrepid reports from disaster zones, now makes his most notable contributions to the following day’s news with a humor segment called 'The RidicuList.'"