July 2011 Ratings: AC360, ‘Piers Morgan’ Up for CNN, ‘American Morning’ Down

By Merrill Knox 

CNN saw slight gains across the board in July — in total day viewers, the network saw a +9% increase in total viewers and a +11% increase in the A25-54 demographic when compared to July 2010. Primetime gains were larger, with CNN seeing a +19% increase in total viewers and a +39% increase in the demographic.

The ratings for July, 2011:

  • Primetime (Mon-Sun): 633K Total Viewers / 203K A25-54
  • Total Day (Mon-Sun): 446K Total Viewers / 142K A25-54

Among the strongest performing shows for CNN were “Anderson Cooper 360” and “John King USA.” Cooper’s 10 p.m. show increased viewership by +32% in total viewers and by +56% in the demographic compared to the same month last year. John King’s 7 p.m. program saw gains of +18% in total viewers and +25% in the demographic. “Piers Morgan Tonight” was also up, by +9% in total viewers and +37% in the demographic.

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Even “In the Arena,” which lost host Eliot Spitzer this month, was able to improve ratings in its timeslot compared to 2010 in both total and demo viewers.

“American Morning” was the only CNN show to tally losses in both categories, losing -24% in total viewers and -26% in the demographic. The only other show with a loss was the 5 p.m. hour of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” which posted a loss of -5% in the demographic despite being up +4% in total viewers.

Read CNN’s full press release after the jump.

CNN Posts More Growth than FNC and MSNBC in July

CNN Continues to top MSNBC in Weekday Daytime 25-54

CNN Signature Programs Surge with Double Digit Gains in P2+ and 25-54 in July

 

In the M-F Primetime daypart, CNN increased more than FNC or MSNBC versus year-ago, building by +15% in total viewers (662k) and +40% among 25-54 viewers (215k).  This compares to gains of +12% in total viewers and +14% among 25-54 for MSNBC and declines of -6% in total viewers and -11% among 25-54 for FNC.

 

CNN also continued to surpass MSNBC in July during the M-F 9a-5p daytime daypart among both total viewers (504k) and the demo (144k), holding an advantage of 33% and 27%, respectively.

 

CNN Programs Surge with Double Digit Gains among both total viewers and 25-54 viewers in July

  • CNN Newsroom at 3p increased 21% among total viewers (578k) and 28% among demo viewers (157k).
  • The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer at 6p increased 10% among total viewers (573k) and 11% among 25-54 viewers (167k).
  • John King USA increased 18% among total viewers (500k) and 25% among 25-54 viewers (156k).
  • Piers Morgan increased 9% among total viewers (715k) and 37% among 25-54 viewers (217k).
  • Anderson Cooper 360 increased 32% among total viewers (760k) and 56% among 25-54 viewers (283k).

CNN reached a cumulative audience of 101.9 million in July, followed by HLN with 90.9 million, Fox News with 86.7 million and MSNBC with 85 million.

CNN Digital

In July, traffic and video usage on CNN.com was up over last year with 1.2 billion global page views and 89.1 million global video views.

 

Proving that users come to CNN.com for breaking news, the World section saw double-digit growth in July with 105.9 million page views (25% over last month and 59% last year), related to coverage of the massacre in Norway.  The top two stories on CNN.com overall were related to news of Norway, one with 8.7 million page views and the second with 6 million.

 

Also showing steady increases in July was CNN.com’s Opinion section with 21 million global page views, 34% over last month and 160% over last year.  CNN contributor LZ Granderson had the top story on bratty kids with almost 1 million page views followed by Bob Greene’s op-ed on the missing Indiana boy with more than 900 thousand page views.

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