CNN came in first in the late night ratings Wednesday night, but their regularly scheduled 10p and 11p shows, took a hit in July.
The 10pmET hour of Anderson Cooper 360 was down 32% in the demo (year-over-year). The 11pmET hour slipped even more, down 42%. A CNN spokesperson tells TVNewser a lot of the drop-off is due to the fact that July ’06 was a busy news month (Israel-Lebanon war, North Korea nukes). The spokesperson goes on to say AC360 is up year-to-date: 16% at 10pm and 4% (essentially flat) at 11pm.
But, the situation is much the same for Wolf Blitzer at 5pm. That hour of The Situation Room is down 40% in the demo, year-over-year.
>More: a CNN insider adds: “Last year, viewers ignored MSNBC while CNN experienced enormous growth for Anderson Cooper’s international coverage of the conflict in Lebanon. This is not an isolated phenomenon. Any claim about July is already old news considering CNN has an 82% lead over MSNBC in the demo at 11p since the Minnesota bridge collapse.”