April ’10 Ratings: MSNBC’s ‘Countdown’ Down Double Digits, but Cracks Top 10

By kevin 

Like the other nets, MSNBC was down year-to-year, but there were a few surprises for the network. Raw numbers:

Total day (Mon-Sun): 391K Total Viewers / 129K A25-54
Prime (Mon-Sun): 785K Total Viewers / 239K A25-54

MSNBC saw the smallest decreases of any network in total viewers. Year-to-year, MSNBC is down -6% in total viewers for both total day and primetime.

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MSNBC was #3 in total day/demo viewers behind FNC and HLN. The channel was also #3 in total day/total viewers behind FNC and CNN. MSNBC topped CNN each hour between 6pm-12amET.

“Morning Joe” was the second most watched morning program in total viewers, but struggled in the demo averaging 115K, the fewest of the four.

Dylan Ratigan’s 4pmET program was third in its timeslot though saw a small year-to-year increase in demo viewership.

“The Ed Show” was one of the few cable news programs to grow in both total viewers (+25%) and demo viewers (+4%) year-to-year and was the number two program in its time slot. Also, the 5pmET “Hardball” topped “The Situation Room” for the first time in total viewers.

Both “Countdown” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” were down in the demo year-to-year, but Maddow’s program did grow slightly (+2%) in total viewers. For the first time since 2000, MSNBC, which airs a replay of “Countdown,” topped CNN at 10pmET in total viewers. MSNBC was also #2 in total viewers at 11pmET, which hasn’t happened since Maddow’s show premiered in 2008.

Though Olbermann’s program saw year-to-year decreases (-13% total viewers/-30% demo), 8pm “Countdown” moved back into the cable news top 10, finishing 10th among cable news programs in total viewers. “Maddow” was #11.

Press release after the jump…


MSNBC Beats CNN for the Third Consecutive Month in Total Day Among A25-54

“Morning Joe,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “The Ed Show,” “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” “The Rachel Maddow Show” all beat CNN

NEW YORK – April 27, 2010 – MSNBC continued to pull away from CNN in April, beating “the most trusted name in news” in every hour from 6 p.m.-12 a.m. and beating CNN in total day for the third consecutive month among the key Adults 25-54 demographic, according to data released today from Nielsen Media Research. The repeat of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” at 10 p.m. ET drew more total viewers than CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” the first time in nearly a decade that MSNBC has out-rated CNN in that hour. “Morning Joe” also beat CNN’s “American Morning” in total viewers for the second consecutive month, while “Hardball with Chris Matthews” at 5 p.m. beat CNN for the first time ever in that hour among total viewers. Following are MSNBC ratings highlights for April 2010:

* MSNBC beat CNN in every hour from 6 p.m.-12 a.m. in April among both A25-54 and total viewers. MSNBC beat CNN in almost every daypart in A25-54, including total day for the third consecutive month (129,000 vs. 123,000), and also beat CNN in total viewers in primetime (780,000 vs. 568,000) and sales prime (7pm-2am) (589,000 vs. 468,000).

* “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” beat CNN for the 26th consecutive month at 8 p.m., finishing ahead of “Campbell Brown” by 116% in A25-54 (266,000 vs. 123,000) and 124% in total viewers (1,073,000 vs. 478,000), and beating “Nancy Grace” by 15% in A25-54 (266,000 vs. 231,000) and 49% in total viewers (1,073,000 vs. 719,000).

* The repeat of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” beat “Anderson Cooper 360” at 10 p.m. for the second month in a row in A25-54 (217,000 vs. 180,000), and also beat “AC 360” by 3% in total viewers (696,000 vs. 678,000), the first time in nearly 10 years that MSNBC has out-rated CNN at 10 p.m. (July 2000)

* “The Rachel Maddow Show” beat CNN’s “Larry King Live” among both A25-54 (274,000 vs. 156,000) and total viewers (1,071,000 vs. 670,000) for the third straight month. The repeat of “The Rachel Maddow Show” at 11 p.m. ET also beat the second hour of CNN’s “AC 360” in both A25-54 and total viewers, the first time that “TRMS” has out-rated CNN in the time period since premiering in September 2008.

* “Hardball with Chris Matthews” beat CNN in total viewers at 5 p.m. for the first time ever in April (515,000 vs. 509,000). At 7 p.m., “Hardball” beat CNN’s foundering “John King USA” for the second consecutive month among A25-54 (159,000 vs. 109,000) and beat CNN for the third consecutive month among total viewers (654,000 vs. 426,000). “John King USA” is down 48 percent in total viewers and down 52 percent in A25-54 versus “Lou Dobbs Tonight” in the same time period last April.

* “Morning Joe” beat CNN’s declining “American Morning” for the second consecutive month among total viewers (392,000 vs. 307,000). "Morning Joe" continues to grow, with April delivering its best viewership in nearly a year (May 2009).

* “The Ed Show” out-rated CNN’s “The Situation Room” for the second straight month among both A25-54 (147,000 vs. 124,000) and total viewers (627,000 vs. 490,000). “The Ed Show” is the only cable news show in the time period to grow versus last year.

* MSNBC finished number one for the month in weekend sales prime among A25-54.

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