They dont really live off commercials based on ratings.
They are not economically viable in themselves. None of the news media are, their ratings dont justify their continued existence. Its the same with the major newspapers. If they had to live on what advertising and cable fees justified by actual viewership they would have gone out of business years ago.
At this point they live on subsidies from their owners (or advertising really meant as a subsidy) for political purposes.
They are political assets, thats their reason to exist.
They TALK like they mean it about the old obsolete media business, ratings and shares and ad revenue, but behind the facade thats no longer the point.
Yes, many of the MSM are losing money, but they couldn't continue without advertising and subscriptions. About 80% of newspaper revenue comes from advertising. Some newspapers provide their product free.
I was a co-owner of an electronic newspaper company that delivered most of the world's newspapers electronically to institutions like hotels and news vendors, who then printed them out the same day for service to their customers. We also provided them to the USG including embassies and intelligence agencies.
Print newspapers are going the way of the dodo bird. The millennials prefer reading their news online instead of a daily snapshot represented by print newspapers. In a decade or so, the print news media will be largely out of business. They are trying to sell their electronic subscriptions online, but the interest is not great. That said, much advertising revenue is now spent on the internet.