The anemic ratings for Chris Cuomo’s CNN show shot up — after he disappeared on suspension.
The total number of “Cuomo Prime Time” viewers spiked to 897,000 on Tuesday night when Anderson Cooper filled in for the missing host, according to Nielsen TV ratings data posted online by AdWeek’s TVNewser website.
That figure was up nearly 19 percent from Monday, when Cuomo attracted just 754,000 pairs of eyeballs.
It also exceed his 9 p.m. weekday show’s average of 774,00 viewers during November, when it ranked No. 25 among all cable TV news programs, right behind Cooper’s.
The surge of interest came hours after CNN announced it had “indefinitely” benched Cuomo “pending further evaluation” of official documents from the sexual harassment probe that forced his older brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to resign August.
The records included damning text message exchanges with his brother’s top aide and a sworn interview in which he admitted that he called news industry “sources” for information and also tried to dig up dirt on at least one of Andrew Cuomo’s accusers, saying he’d heard she might have been “put up to it.”
On Wednesday, Chris Cuomo told listeners of his SiriusXM radio show that being suspended from CNN “hurts” and was “embarrassing” but added, “I understand it. And I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did.”
Sources have told The Post that CNN president Jeff Zucker was infuriated by Monday’s revelations, which came after the network stood by Chris Cuomo in May when the Washington Post revealed that he participated in strategy sessions with his brother’s aides and advisers.
At that time, CNN called Chris Cuomo’s conduct “inappropriate” but said he wouldn’t be disciplined.
Cooper is expected to fill in for Chris Cuomo through the end of the week, according to Variety.
