Media Buyer Notices CNN’s Demo Ratings: “I Need To…Keep An Eye On Them”

The ratings race between CNN and Fox is “hugely lopsided,” today’s New York Times notes in a Jon Klein update. “The 2.05 million viewers that Fox drew, on average, during prime time last year is more than double the 936,000 who watched CNN, according to Nielsen Media Research. To Mr. Klein, those numbers have obscured some of the progress that his network has made on his watch.”

What sort of progress? 25-54 demo progress. Quoting Jacques Steinberg‘s story:

“Fox’s prime-time growth, [Klein] said, continued to be built on a foundation of aging viewers (over 54), who are less attractive to advertisers. Fox News’ average viewership among those 25 to 54 years old actually fell by 118,000, according to Nielsen, while CNN was up 9,000 in that category.

Sam Armando, vice president and director of national television research for Starcom Worldwide, a media planning and buying firm, said that, he, too, had detected similar trends at both CNN and Fox News in recent months.

‘This initial bump at CNN has said to me, I need to open my eyes and keep an eye on them,’ he said. ‘It’s a little premature, but the signs are there.'”

Here’s the rest of the must-read…