Lost in a lot of the political chatter that goes on whether it’s the White House vs. Fox News or MSNBC vs. CNN is that regardless of the ratings, all of the news networks are making money. Whether they’re all optimized for making the most money they could make is, of course, a different matter.
But when you hear that MSNBC is slowing its search for a host of a new show at 10pm because it’s pleased with the ratings Keith Olbermann’s show is getting in reruns at 10pm, you get the idea they’re not exactly under the gun about current ratings performance.
NEW YORK — MSNBC is much less likely to start a third prime-time news show because its executives are pleased with how well a repeat of Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” is doing at 10 p.m. ET.
MSNBC chief executive Phil Griffin talked this year of actively searching for a new 10 p.m. host. Reruns of Olbermann’s 8 p.m. show have aired there since March 2008.
Yet in October, Olbermann has averaged 600,000 viewers in that later time slot, nearly on par with Anderson Cooper’s 689,000 on CNN, the Nielsen Co. said. In the 25-to-54 demographic, which MSNBC most actively courts, Olbermann’s rerun beat Cooper’s first-run show in that hour for the first time ever. Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren leads with just under 2 million total viewers.
Olbermann’s rerun is getting nearly 60 percent of the audience that his first-run show does earlier in the evening, Nielsen said.
“We’re looking, but nothing (new) has even come close to going in there at 10,” Griffin said. “We’ve set the bar so high we don’t want to break that success.”
Sad, really, when having the “third-most-popular” program in a time slot is acceptable because it doesn’t cost anything more to produce it. Sort of like NBC’s strategy with Jay Leno: “we don’t care if it gets poor ratings as long as we still make money”. Start of the death spiral IMO. Will be so glad when my company (GE) dumps this piece of crap from our portfolio.
Maybe MSNBC should MOVE Olbermann to 10 pm and find someone for the 8 pm slot…?
@KD – Why would GE dump MSNBC if it’s “making money”? That would be silly.
What a HOOT!!! The headline below this is “Olbermanns Ratings Down 63% from 2008!” Yet MSNBC is PLEASED with this????? No wonder NBC and MSNBC is tabking. I remember an old bumper sticker fro the Vietnam War era, “What if they gave a war and no one showed up?” MSNBC’s could be “What if they broadcast a show and no one watched!!”
Maybe MSNBC could put Hugo Chávez on at 10 pm. I am sure he would appeal to their audience. They could have Hugo and Shawn Penn sit down with other Hollywood types and discuss the evils of capitalism.
Steve, almost everyone is down versus last year because of the election. For comparative purposes, sad as it may be (for CNN) I think MSNBC comparing itself to CNN is a reasonable and logical comparison for it to make.
Wow, MSNBC must have some pretty low standards if they’re “pleased” with Olberman’s ratings at 10 PM
More proof that MSNBC is living in an alternate reality. MSNBC should have no problem finding a 10PM show that can pull in around 1,000,000 viewers. A good 10PM host against one of Fox’s weaker shows (Greta) would be a huge boost to the network.
Also, a big L-O-L at “setting the bar so high”.
Robert,
You’re “almost everyone” being who??? CNN and who??? Fox is up, not down.
This is obviously another cost cutting measure by GE and NBC and has nothing to do with his performance or their inability to find another hack liberal leftie.
Worst network in the wooooorld!!!!
Why would it be a cost-cutting measure? Olbermann repeats have aired in the timeslot for over a year. And really, do we really need another news show? They all talk about the same thing over and over again, anyway.
Scott, what particular part of the basic math eluded you? And what part of “almost everyone” did you take to mean “everyone”?
Robert Seidman,
Fox News is up from last year. “Almost everyone” isn’t basic math either. Math is numbers not words. You didn’t provide any numbers to back up your argument. So looks like you’re the one that needs a math brush up.
Olbermann’s shows are all reruns. Whenever I tune in he is talking about Bush, Cheney, Palin. MSNBC is clearly running his old shows from 2008 over and over again. Must be a cost saving measure.
It’s hard to argue with ’success’, what that means to you.
Doug (2) I think not making a move is a cost *saving* measure, not really a cost *cutting* measure.
There are only so many people who want to watch progressive, Obama-scum cockroaches like Olby. Getting a different cockroach won’t make much of a difference.
Oberjerk and msnbc are safe as long as they stay in the Dear Leader’s back pocket…..
Rerunning a show is obviously cheaper than the cost of producing a whole new show. Cost saving or cost cutting–let’s not get bogged down in semantics. Olberdouche is hardly worth the effort.
Weird…he wears more makeup and used more hair product than Maddcow
Down 63% off an election year is quite normal for a show like his.
The guy has raised 1.5 mil for a free health clinic. Good for him!
Hmm.
I suppose all of the negative remarks about Keith, are from, right wing teabaggers. Those that watch the alcoholic Glen Peckerhead, the sexual harraser, O’doofus, or the comedian drug addict, limpbaugh.
Whatever, all opinions make the world go round, no matter how dumb they are. Mine included. But , not time time.
Makes sense for them to continue on the same path. Maddow fit in perfectly after Olbermann, and Olbermann rerun goes well after Maddow. Mixing up that continuity from a business stand point just does not make sense, especially when they do not have anyone on the horizon who could pull significantly higher numbers.
Those complaining about this just seem already inclined to not enjoy MSNBC anyways, so I do not see why you have such vitriol for this non-move. I’m sure if they find someone who would fill that slot perfectly, they would move on it–but I wouldn’t see that happening for a while–probably until just after the 2012 midterms.
Mikeee says:
October 28, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Maybe MSNBC could put Hugo Chávez on at 10 pm. I am sure he would appeal to their audience. They could have Hugo and Shawn Penn sit down with other Hollywood types and discuss the evils of capitalism.
LOL…..hahahaha…..thats a great idea! Would definately appeal to the audience MSNBC attracts. Good one Mikeee….have me laughing.
Why don’t they go off air and just put a picture of Obama up. Im sure the mindless socialists would still just sit there and stare in awe. If that got too boring they could “slideshow” Reid, Pelosi, Clinton, Chavez, Biden, Qhadaffi, Boxer, General Tao, Kennedy, etc. in there. Those “great” minds think alike.
If the Cable news ratings (+info) is just going to turn into comments from the left and right to disparage one another, I’d rather the information not be put on here.
Calling the viewers of one channel communist/socialist or calling the viewers of another channel fascist/extreme-religious is just inappropriate for a site of this type.
I wish they would show Lock Up, the child predator shows, and other weekend programming during the week. I that stuff is actually watchable.
entertainmenttodayandbeyond ….big deal on overbites fund raising Hannity, O’Reilly give that much yearly out of their own pockets and fund raising besides!
Why doesn’t MSNBC just put Olbermann on for three hours a night? I guess he can’t go that long without changing his diaper.
CNN needs to let go of AC. He gives impression of hollywood type reporting.
AC is about as unhollywood as it comes outside of studio…the katrina and war zone reports have been great. But in the studio, it does come off as a little over-refined.
DragonWolf: My guess is it’s just Glenn Beck, high on cocaine, sock-puppeteering.
AC was great in the field, but he’s too good for that now after subbing on Regis & Kelly.
Is Keith Olbermann a human??? He spooks me….
@Liberal Lies
I know what you mean. Just seeing his picture at the top of this post makes me throw up a little in my mouth. I have to scroll past it real fast or else …
MSNBC should be happy. They’re ahead of CNN, and they’re never going to catch Fox, so I’d be perfectly content as is.
What folks here need to realize is that FNC and MSNBC are focusing on different demo viewers.
FNC is focusing its programming to bring in , conservative, moderate and democratic viewers.
While MSNBC’s programming is focusing on the liberal/progressive viewers.
Comparing the ratings vs these two is like comparing NFL game attendance totals vs MLS (US soccer) game attendance totals. Yes they are both sports, but totally different fan demo.
Mikee,
You’re a genius: if MSNBC had a “Socialist Dictator Rotating Guest Host Show”, there ratings would skyrocket.
This tells me they’re selling it, and they don’t want to have any more obligations to talent on the books than absolutely necessary. I don’t know the contractual status of Olbermann, Madcow, Matthews or Schultz….but if any are up for renewal soon it will be interesting to see how they do it. Though they can’t be paying Schultz much.
Ed
Robert,
Okay, then who are you referring to other than CNN? All other cable TV channels? It seems to me that your “almost everyone” is just CNN. Again, Fox is up, not down.
Scott,
I was not referring to all other cable TV channels. And if you want to be precise (and it seems you do) FNC was not up October vs. October. They just were not down as much as CNN and MSNBC (and if you care to count it, CNBC, which was down substantially year over year).
FNC in primetime (8p-11p) was down ~35% year over year in HH and P2+ Unfortunately I didn’t see a 25-54 slice for that comparison but I’d guess the percentages were not down by quite as much though definitely still down for primetime. Over the total day, FNC was down with HH and P2+ only ~18% which was much less than the total day declines for CNN and MSNBC (both around 50%).
But down nonetheless.
Unfortunately I don’t have any year over year comparisons for just the 5p-11p portion we regularly report daily numbers for, but that has to be down too.
FNC is down versus last year, not up. Just not down as badly. I think you might have confused FNC being up after the “White House War” versus the couple of weeks before it; it was. But versus last year, down.
thank u Robert,tell them!!!
personally im glad that fox just like the rest of the channels is down,it isnt immune and all its fanatics on this board should know that
I’m kind of amazed at how many right wing nut jobs frequent a tv ratings site that deals in facts and reality. But judging by the comments, none of that reality is rubbing off on them.
Someone posted a comment that FNC is focusing on bringing in moderate and democratic viewers???!!!! What???!!!
All of these people: Olbermann, O’Reilly, Beck, Hannity, etc. who start with a narrow rigid viewpoint and then cram and smash and hammer the square facts through their round hole are an embarrassment to “journalism.” It’s crazy that the crazier they get, the higher their ratings go. CNN’s not any better, regurgitating blogs and talking points, or serving as an extension of the E! channel. I think there would be a market for serious objective news channels but I fear we’re already too far down the rabbit hole for that to ever happen.
Low blows aren’t very becoming of anyone.
On topic, MSNBC must feel the need to get Olbermann’s opinions across to as many as who will tune in no matter what time it’s on.
Olbermann is an idiot. But when it comes to entertainment, even a pathetic olbermann can find a fan base. Maybe some of his fans will finally find something better to do with thier time than be entertained by , well whatever you call what he does.
Robert,
Okay, thanks for clearing that up.
MSNBC is thrilled. You have to remember how bad there ratings were a few years ago. They are just happy to be mentioned in the same breath as Fox. They were a complete non-entity for years.
Quinn……….1st, if talking cable news….the issues of republican vs. liberal socialist HAVE to come up because thats what cable news is!!! Fox has middle to right reporting, while CNN, HLN, MSNBC (and ABC, NBC, and CBS for that matter)has far left, liberal, socialist reporting. How can we NOT discuss this when dealing with the news.
2nd, Beck, O’Reilly, and Hannity don’t pretend to be journalists. They are commentary hosts who speak their minds (conservative)And they say that on most broadcats. Olberman, Matthews, Maddow, Ed, O’Donnell, Mitchell, Cooper, Sanchez, etc, pretend they are journalists. They are just liberal talk show hosts…..if thats their opinion, fine! But dont pretend to be neutral, respectable, journalists….we all know its BS and hurting our country. If they lie and dont report certain stories if affects all of America because some still dont realize its propaganda.
MSNBC is made up of immature liberals (oxymoron?) who can’t complete a sentence without using the most popular ‘label du jour’, teabaggers, wingnuts, Republitards; with a penchant for the ‘clever’ reworking of names of whichever particular conservative is the subject of ridicule. Despite the fact that Democrats are in control of Congress and the White House, conservative bashing is always front and center, making it difficult to discern if the shows are new, or recycled from years past.