Times are tough all over, but in the cable news world, seemingly tougher at CNN, where at least in primetime, in March it came in fourth place behind FOX News, MSNBC and even its own Headline News on 16 out of 22 weekdays in the adults 25-54 demographic.
The good news for CNN is that not having actual news on Headline News has improved Headline News’ numbers. It’s not much of a silver lining, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
Here’s the data for March 2009:
| Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD) | ||||||||
| First Quarter 2009 | CNN | FNC | MSNBC | CNBC | HLN | |||
| P 25-54 | P 25-54 | P 25-54 | P 25-54 | P 25-54 | CNN | |||
| Date | Time | Days | AA (000) | AA (000) | AA (000) | AA (000) | AA (000) | Rank |
| 3/1/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ______S | 184 | 349 | 196 | 60 | 138 | 3 |
| 3/2/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | M______ | 285 | 713 | 419 | 108 | 299 | 4 |
| 3/3/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _T_____ | 241 | 569 | 423 | 82 | 310 | 4 |
| 3/4/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | __W____ | 324 | 650 | 375 | 106 | 279 | 3 |
| 3/5/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ___T___ | 330 | 713 | 358 | 88 | 354 | 4 |
| 3/6/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ____F__ | 206 | 563 | 223 | 108 | 282 | 4 |
| 3/7/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _____S_ | 247 | 331 | 261 | 168 | 154 | 3 |
| 3/8/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ______S | 198 | 282 | 224 | 167 | 98 | 3 |
| 3/9/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | M______ | 353 | 653 | 408 | 104 | 249 | 3 |
| 3/10/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _T_____ | 315 | 640 | 277 | 116 | 294 | 2 |
| 3/11/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | __W____ | 287 | 543 | 374 | 75 | 340 | 4 |
| 3/12/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ___T___ | 264 | 627 | 304 | 119 | 300 | 4 |
| 3/13/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ____F__ | 180 | 573 | 262 | 242 | 264 | 5 |
| 3/14/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _____S_ | 173 | 355 | 273 | 156 | 96 | 3 |
| 3/15/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ______S | 201 | 268 | 227 | 125 | 180 | 3 |
| 3/16/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | M______ | 302 | 599 | 392 | 68 | 311 | 4 |
| 3/17/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _T_____ | 266 | 631 | 377 | 75 | 271 | 4 |
| 3/18/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | __W____ | 419 | 681 | 362 | 91 | 440 | 3 |
| 3/19/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ___T___ | 270 | 665 | 396 | 82 | 299 | 4 |
| 3/20/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ____F__ | 228 | 513 | 249 | 83 | 282 | 4 |
| 3/21/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _____S_ | 167 | 228 | 203 | 132 | 174 | 4 |
| 3/22/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ______S | 177 | 261 | 164 | 90 | 136 | 2 |
| 3/23/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | M______ | 257 | 726 | 368 | 104 | 310 | 4 |
| 3/24/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _T_____ | 560 | 906 | 565 | 192 | 302 | 3 |
| 3/25/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | __W____ | 267 | 624 | 349 | 81 | 314 | 4 |
| 3/26/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ___T___ | 242 | 727 | 398 | 58 | 351 | 4 |
| 3/27/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ____F__ | 230 | 629 | 269 | 96 | 269 | 4 |
| 3/28/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _____S_ | 171 | 237 | 214 | 117 | 118 | 3 |
| 3/29/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | ______S | 156 | 277 | 300 | 96 | 115 | 3 |
| 3/30/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | M______ | 237 | 679 | 335 | 115 | 309 | 4 |
| 3/31/2009 | 08:00P -11:00P | _T_____ | 282 | 627 | 332 | 87 | 206 | 3 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
I watch MSNBC or CNN, but I lean toward MSNBC lately, especially in primetime (love Keith and Rachel). What’s interesting is that MSNBC actually beats FOX in viewers 18-34, and most of FOX’s viewers are over 65. In other words, they’re going to have to start appealing to the younger demo if they want to be around in 15-20 years.
matt, misinformed matt. you gotta learn to differentiate facts from opinions
Stan, if you’re watching FOX news, then you’re misinformed, lol. There was a study done just a few years ago that showed FOX news viewers were the most misinformed about topics like the Iraq War, 9/11, Bush, etc. Most FOX viewers thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11.
So thanks, but I’ll stick to CNN and MSNBC.
BTW, here’s a link to just one such study:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/714.html
you didn’t listen matt. I can link to anything that suits my purposes also. Read the numbers provided on this website. They are also available. Wow that article is really recent. 2003 numbers, you use those same stats for global warming arguments?
Ah, the typical high quality of discussion about cable news ratings. Though MSNBC is certainly on record of going after younger viewers, I’m not sure advertisers looking to advertise on cable news programming really care about younger demos like 18-34 yet. And given the overall viewing trends, I’m pretty sure CNNs problems are not a function of youth demo targeting by NBC.
But I should’ve just shut comments on this post off to begin with…and now I have!