Ted Koppel mocks Brian Stelter: "CNN's ranking would be in the bathroom without Donald Trump"

The legend of journalism, Ted Koppel, is mocked by Brian Stelter of CNN on Monday, telling the "Reliable Sources" host that "CNN's results would be in the bathroom without Donald Trump".

While he was on stage for a round table of the National Press Club, Mr. Koppel tried to make clear that many media officials admitted that Trump was good for audiences, while viewers on both sides from the aisle were turning to watch the drama unfolding all the time.

Stelter replied, "What does that mean? If notes are up, what does it mean?

Koppel – who anchored "Nightline" on ABC News for 25 years and is a journalist who has been working for more than 40 years, quickly responded.

"The odds are up, that means you can not do without Donald Trump. You would be lost without Donald Trump, "said Koppel as Stelter shook his head in disagreement.

"Ted, you know that's not true," said Stelter.

"CNN hearings would be in the bathroom without Donald Trump," Koppel said as the audience laughed.

"You know that's not true. You play for a laugh, "Stelter replied before explaining that it would be" OK "if CNN lost a significant number of viewers during the next administration.

"I reject the premise that these networks are making so much money with Trump," said Stelter.

Koppel noted that it was clearly a "sensitive topic" and pointed out that MSNBC was also devoting the bulk of its coverage to Trump. Stelter emerged as a prominent CNN figure during Trump's political rise and often questions the president's ability to hold a position. CNN and Trump have a quarrel going on because the network is running anti-Trump programs and the president often reacts by making fun of CNN as "false news".

Ironically, CNN ended well behind Fox News and MSNBC in the third quarter of 2018. Fox News attracted an average of 1.4 million viewers, compared to MSNBC's 1 million and CNN's only 722,000 viewers. Fox News and MSNBC gained viewers from the third quarter of 2017, but CNN was down 9%.

During prime time from 8pm to 11pm ET, Fox News attracted an average of 2.5 million viewers, up 14% from the third quarter of 2017, compared to 1.9 million for MSNBC and 1 million for CNN . MSNBC and CNN were down on the previous year.

Fox News was home to nine of the top 15 cable news programs among viewers and seven of the top 15 in the demo, as "Hannity" dominated both categories. The most-watched show on CNN was "Cuomo Prime Time," which ranked 23rd overall in cable news, with an average of 1.2 million viewers.