CNN Host Chris Cuomo’s Ratings Plunge After Brother’s Frequent Goofy Appearances

America does not like “The Chris & Andy Show.”

CNN host Chris Cuomo has been laughing it up for the last few weeks with brother Andrew Cuomo, who is the Governor of New York. But the CNN host’s ratings have been falling since he began the near-daily yuck fests.

His ratings have plunged 49% in the two months since he began bringing on his brother, data from Nielsen Media Research shows, according to The Daily Mail.

Since the week of March 30, Cuomo has dropped from first in his 9 p.m. time slot among cable news hosts to bottom of the barrel, last week averaging just 440,000 daily viewers in the age demographic prized by advertisers. Cuomo’s stunning ratings nosedive came after interviews with his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in lighthearted segments that were widely panned as ratings stunts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While ratings for several news networks also fell amid coronavirus exhaustion, Cuomo’s have dropped far more than other shows after “frequently silly and un-substantive interviews” with his older brother, said The Mail.

In The Cuomo Bros. Show, Chris teased Andrew about the size of his nose after the governor underwent a test for COVID-19.

“Is it true that this was the swab that the nurse was actually using on you, and at first it disappeared?” Chris said, holding up a giant swab. “Is it true you inhaled and the nurse’s finger went all the way up your nose and got stuck and had to be released with a tool?” Chris asked.

The two also debated whether Andrew is the most “eligible” bachelor in the country.

“Do you think you are an attractive person now because you’re single and ready to mingle?” Chris said. “Do you really think you are some desirable single person, and this is not just people’s pain coming out of them?”

Andrew, meanwhile, mocked Chris after the CNN host contracted COVID-19. “Nothing about me has changed,” Andrew said. “I haven’t been in my basement [in quarantine], I haven’t had my wife shear my hair out of resentment. None of that has happened to me. I’m just doing my job.”

But for all the witless banter, Chris has never asked Andrew about the staggering death toll in New York’s nursing homes, which has killed more than 5,800 elderly and vulnerable residents.

New York state has seen more nursing home deaths from the coronavirus than any other state. Why? The governor enacted a state directive that required nursing homes to take in any and all coronavirus patients, which then swept through the most vulnerable population.

“Journalism that truly aims to restore trust in media would hold Andrew Cuomo to account for these missteps,” David A. Graham wrote in the Atlantic last week. “The problem comes when the efforts to juice ratings start to get in the way of accurate journalism that holds officials accountable.”