The numbers game has changed. Now its: CNN and HLN are both beating MSNBC in the key demographic for the month of October (total day). As we have said for years, we measure our audience across the day and across all of CNN's platforms, not just prime time. This is the basis for advertising sales. We're extremely pleased that we are the only news organization that has two television networks delivering large audiences thanks to the continued growth of HLN.
Why? CNN sucks in prime time. It's hard to spin a ratings tailspin.
Inside Cable News: CNN’s response is a tad disingenuous. The network is only too happy to note the prime time Demo, when it’s #2 in Primetime.
Paging Balloon Boy... I'm just sayin'...
NYT's Bill Carter cranks out "CNN Drops To Last Place Among Cable Networks": The results demonstrate once more the apparent preference of viewers for opinion-oriented shows from the news networks in prime time. CNN has steered opinion hosts like Nancy Grace to HLN, while maintaining more news-oriented shows on CNN itself. When news events are not being intensely followed, CNN executives acknowledge, viewers seem to be looking for partisan views more than objective coverage. Individually, the CNN shows were beaten resoundingly by all the Fox News programs, but also lost to all of the MSNBC programs, including a repeat of Keith Olbermann’s 8 p.m. edition of“Countdown,” which beat the 10 p.m. hour of CNN’s signature prime-time program, “Anderson Cooper 360.
Carter gets his statement from CNN flacks: "CNN’s ratings are always going to be more dependent on the news environment, much more so that opinion-based programming especially in prime time.”Larry King was the only CNN show that didn't finish last in prime time. Nancy Grace (right) prays her HLN show continues to beat Campbell Brown by 100,000 viewers. Bill O'Reilly creams them all with three times the ratings of Keith Olbermann.
I find it amusing that any of the three cable "news" networks deems to call what they do in prime time news. It's entertainment, pure and simple. Fox simply does it best.
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ReplyDeleteOl' Nancy there looks like some sort-of female Bond villian in that photo. Of course she's probably like that in real life to!
Yes, anon, it's become entertainment OK, as we piss away the gross national IQ. It's bad enough that most people in this country are vacuum-heads about the issues of the day, but it's almost as bad that most of those who know anything, know it only as cheerleaders, not thoughtful citizens. If, or perhaps it's when, we lose this free society, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI'd actually enjoy watching a thoughtful discussion about health care---even some laughs. It can be done but it requires producers and suits to give that crazy idea some thought---and it's easier (and cheaper) to throw pies at each other and demand an apology.
ReplyDeleteWe sure could use that right now. Jon Stewart can't do it all by himself. Maybe Larry King will do something about Halloween and Jon and Kate (again)?
Anon 3:53 here....seems like the public likes to be told what to think these days rather than make decisions for themselves. I have just stopped watching all together. I hate to say it the best factual information on the issues of the day comes from books, old school newspapers and a few blogs. Everything else is pretty much pablum for the masses. What ever happened to the independent, self sustaining, rugged American.
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