In viral tweet to DonaldTrump

In viral tweet to Trump, CNN offers alternative fact to falsely suggest it tied Fox News in inauguration ratings

CNN conflated 2 statistics on to incorrectly counsel that its ratings were similar to Fox News' throughout last week's coverage of President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The episode started once Trump on weekday congratulated Fox News on Twitter for "being best within the inauguration ratings."

"They were over and over over pretend NEWS @CNN," he wrote.

CNN's promotion team gone through Trump's tweet, citing additive numbers from Nielsen Media analysis. additivenumbers live audience reach, whereas ratings — the datum Trump observed — live the typical variety of individualsobservation a given program.

"According to Nielsen additive numbers, thirty four million folks watched CNN's day coverage on tv. thirty four million watched Fox News," the CNN communications account aforementioned in a very tweet, that was shared thousands of times and have become the idea of many news stories.

On Wednesday, CNN host Chris Cuomo doubled down on the claim:
The additive variety is technically correct. (CNN, however, rounded it. The precise numbers show Fox News with thirty four.4 million viewers and CNN with thirty four.2 million.) however it is a datum that is seldom, if ever, utilized in the cable news trade, in step with consultants.

"It's a factual datum, however I virtually ne'er used additive ratings once after I emended TVNewser," Brian Flood, a media newsperson at TheWrap, told Business corporate executive in AN email. "Not once."

Instead, it's commonest for networks to supply ratings for a particular hour or program to boast regarding their audiences. that is the spot wherever Fox News handily outpaced CNN throughout day.

Take a glance at a number of the numbers from Nielsen:

Those numbers build it clear that Fox News simply outpaced CNN in inauguration ratings, virtually multiplication CNN's numbers at some points within the day.

Before it engaged in a very fight with Trump, CNN conceded in a very release that it came in second to Fox News.

"CNN hierarchal a powerful #2 in cable news throughout the Inauguration of President Donald Trump yesterday, January twentieth," the discharge aforementioned.

Erik Wemple, a media critic for The Washington Post, aforementioned that he had "seen a number of the silliness" over the ratings which cable news networks usually have interaction in "puerile spats" over such things. however he aforementioned that this point, CNN maybe escalated it any than traditional.

"When there is a fact-check of the president, it moves aloof from the realm of normal cable-news tiff," he told Business corporate executive in AN email.