MSNBC’s highest-rated program in history, Tuesday’s Democratic debate, will re-air tomorrow night and Saturday night from 8-10pmET and again Sunday from 4-6pmET. Some write-ups about the debate and its ratings:
• The Washington Post’s Lisa de Moraes writes that the 10pmET hour, which included the final 36 minutes of the debate and the first 24 minutes of “The Post-Debate Navel-Lint-Picking Show,” ranked as the #1 hour on all of television. The debate’s first hour, from 9-10pmET, was second only to FOX’s American Idol and Back to You.
• The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker‘s reaction. Zucker addressed MSNBC’s ratings during a media and entertainment conference at Harvard University. “I think they have found their identity,” Zucker said. “I think politics really is their calling card.”
• The Plain Dealer‘s TV critic Mark Dawidziak takes a shot at moderators Tim Russert and Brian Williams. “[T]hey lost control of this bout from the start. The contenders quickly took advantage of the lapse, setting their own rules.”
• Matea Gold writes in the LA Times’ Top of the Ticket blog that MSNBC actually beat the mothership, NBC. The network averaged 6.6 million from 9-10:30 as it aired The Biggest Loser and Quarterlife.