Much of January was dominated by news from the earthquake in Haiti and its aftermath, a story CNN covered heavily in primetime. While CNN regained its footing in prime against MSNBC, the network could not compete with Fox News.
Total day (Mon-Sun): 576k total viewers / 177k A25-54
Prime (Mon-Sun): 842k total viewers / 259k A25-54
CNN’s primetime lineup finished in second and topped MSNBC in both Total Viewers and the demo for the first time in six months. CNN grew more than 50% in the primetime demo month-to-month.
But compared to January of 2009, CNN’s averages were down -34% in Total Viewers for both total day and primetime. In younger viewers, CNN was down even more, -41% for total day and -37% in prime. All networks got a boost from the inauguration of Barack Obama last January.
Anderson Cooper, the network’s most visible anchor this month, was second to FNC’s Greta Van Susteren, down -35% in Total Viewers (-38% demo) at 10pmET, year-over-year.
Press release after the jump…
CNN TOPS MSNBC IN DAYTIME (9a-5p), TOTAL DAY (6a-6a) AND WEEKDAY PRIMETIME (8-11p) IN JANUARY
IN KEY DEMO 25-54, HLN OUTPERFORMS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY; NANCY GRACE BEATS COUNTDOWN
MSNBC PLACES 4TH OR 5TH DURING THE DAY; OLBERMANN, MADDOW SLIP TO 3RD; HARDBALL, MORNING JOE ARE 4TH
In January, CNN topped MSNBC during daytime (9am-5pm), total day (6am-6am) and in weekday primetime (8-11pm) in both total viewers and in the key demo adults 25-54.
In head-to-head comparisons with MSNBC’s daytime non-opinion news programming – CNN dominated, averaging 658k vs. 305k in total viewers (+116%), and 165k vs. 75k in adults 25-54 (+120%). MSNBC placed either fourth or fifth (trailing behind CNBC) every weekday hour throughout the day (9 am until 5 pm) in the key demo 25-54. At 5pm, Hardball slipped to fourth place behind FNC, CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and HLN’s Prime News among adults 25-54, and also placed fourth at 7 pm, trailing FNC, CNN and HLN’s Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell.
CNN also outperformed MSNBC in total day (6am-6am) in both total viewers (577k vs. 369k) and among adults 25-54 (177k vs. 122k). And HLN topped MSNBC in total day in the key demo adults 25-54 with 130k vs. MSNBC’s 122k.
In weekday prime, CNN topped MSNBC (M-F/8-11 pm) in both total viewers and among the key demographic adults 25-54. For the month, CNN averaged 946k total viewers, a 13% advantage over MSNBC’s 838k, and 294k among adults 25-54, a 20% lead over MSNBC’s 245k. This represents the first time in six months that CNN topped MSNBC in the key demographic adults 25-54 in prime. Compared to December 2009, CNN grew an impressive 52% among adults 25-54 (294k vs. 194k), while MSNBC was up only 14% (245k vs. 214k).
At 10 pm, Anderson Cooper 360 had a 52% advantage over MSNBC in total viewers (906k vs. 597k) and a 51% lead in the key demographic adults 25-54 (305k vs. 202k) in January. CNN’s Larry King topped MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow at 9 pm in both total viewers (930k vs.876k) and the key demo 25-54 (264k vs. 233k). And at 8 pm, CNN’s Campbell Brown grew significantly in January, up 43% in total viewers and 73% in 25-54 compared to last month, while Countdown with Keith Olbermann increased only 6%/7% respectively vs. December. Countdown also placed third in January, behind FNC and HLN’s Nancy Grace among adults 25-54. CNN is the only cable news network that provides non-partisan programming representing all points of view in primetime.
In the morning (6-9 am), CNN’s American Morning placed second in total viewers, while both CNN and HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade outperformed MSNBC’s Morning Joe among adults 25-54 with HLN averaging 166k, CNN posting 152k, and Morning Joe trailing with 100k.
During January, CNN reached 118.0 million viewers, FNC had 103.4 million, HLN posted 98.5 million and MSNBC had 91.3 million.