The propaganda matters, not ratings.
Yep, and because of that, leftists will continue to prop up these stations that would otherwise shut down.
Exactly. CNN today reminds me of what Rush used to say about the New York Slimes. He said the NYT writers didn't write for most Americans to read. They wrote their stories (articles LOL) with other drive by media members as the intended audience. To them, success wasn't selling more newspapers. Success in their minds was defined as being quoted by other Drive By Media outlets. Thus the NYT articles were written to supply a source of seemingly authentic news for other drive by media outlets to spew out liberal screed.
That's exactly what CNN is today. They don't want to be watched by the masses. They want street cred among their liberal media buddies and be quoted a lot by them. As long as they keep getting quoted by other drive by media, they see themselves as successful.