**Election Leaves CNN with Fillers

With the election now finished, will CNN's steady rise in viewership stagger too? Market Watch analysts say yes.

CNN had made the tactical decision of being the top network giving wall-to-wall coverage on the 2008 Presidential Election. Their move proved lucrative and successful as Time Warner's stocks increased and on election night, CNN raked in 12.3 million viewers as opposed to FOX News' cool 9 million (even though FOX has been the leading station in cable news since 2002).

But with the election now over, news analysts are skeptic if CNN can bounce back and maintain their growing viewership. In a frenzy to keep up ratings, CNN is trying other superficial outlets such as entertainment reporting to keep a desperate grasp on a fleeting audience. "CNN has become infamous in TV circles for the many changes to its broadcasting strategy over the years" says Marketwatch analysts.

"CNN seemed more fixated on using gimmicks as a way to thwart Fox"

New Yorker media critic Ken Auletta pointed out: "Cable news networks rarely reach a mass audience, and therefore they seek to find a niche. Each will deny this, but they're spinning like the politicians they cover. Fox's niche is to tilt conservative, and MSNBC's is to tilt liberal. CNN seeks the broader ground between them by claiming to be the true 'fair and balanced' network. Yet they have a populist strain -- think Lou Dobbs -- that contradicts this claim."

Jeffrey Bewkes needs to implement and oversee that CNN sticks to respective news reporting. It's the main angle people know CNN to be and it's the ethical path to take. Sure, it may not compete with FOX's hard-core liberalism or may not generate the most lucrative stock market incentives but it is reliable and trustworthy. I hope CNN realizes that they have a BRAND in the eyes of viewers- the brand as being a fair and politically respectable cable news network, despite the years of wishy-washy broadcasting styles. Many people, including myself, still have trust in the network where it's not too late for CNN to go back to the basics. If they just stay true to unbiased journalism and consistently commit to that image, I'm sure they will slowly gain back many followers that will stay loyal (unlike the fickle entertainment-drive youth).