HLN commemorated its fifth anniversary of the switch to personality-driven programming this month, a milestone we wrote about. Here are the February numbers:
Total day (Mon-Sun): 304k total viewers / 135k A25-54
Prime (Mon-Sun): 495k total viewers / 162k A25-54
HLN finished ahead of sister-network CNN in the total day and prime-time demos.
“Morning Express” was the #2 morning show in cable news and had its best ratings in the show’s history. Joy Behar’s show is up +13% in total viewers compared to last year.
HLN section of the CNN press release after the jump.
HLN NEARLY TRIPLES AUDIENCE SINCE 2005 REVAMP
Morning Express with Robin Meade Posts Best Month Ever
Celebrating the fifth anniversary of its revamp to opinion-based programming in primetime, HLN (formerly Headline News) continues to score impressive ratings across the board. Comparing the year prior to the February 2005 launch of Nancy Grace and Showbiz Tonight (2004) to its most recently completed year (2009), the network has tripled its primetime audience (M-F/8-11 pm) in total viewers (659k vs. 211k/+212%), and nearly tripled its audience among 25-54 (250k vs. 84k/+198%). 2009 marked HLN’s third consecutive year of growth in total day and prime and its best year on record.
In February, Morning Express with Robin Meade scored its best ratings in history in both the demo 25-54 (206k) and total viewers (342k) ranking second in the morning and outperforming MSNBC’s Morning Joe by 94%. Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell at 7 pm placed second among adults 25-54 for the second consecutive month (151k), while Hardball (7 pm) slipped to 4th place (141k). At 9 pm, The Joy Behar Show was the only program to show growth among total viewers, increasing 13% versus year-ago.