Monday, May 5 2003
Memo to MSO’s, MS, and Brian Williams
Jim Rutenberg quotes NBC News President Neal Shapiro as saying that moving Ashleigh Banfield to NBC Broadcast Network was “giving her a chance to prove herself in the major leagues.”
Is MSNBC the minors? Are cable operators and Bill Gates’ Microsoft throwing money into a minor league news organization? The MSO’s are paying major league prices, and Microsoft is giving NBC an annual subsidy, to provide news content for MSNBC.
Maybe the trouble with MSNBC is that Shapiro and other NBC executives still treat MSNBC as minor league property. Last month, even with all the Iraqi-war audience, gains, FoxNews had two-and-a-half times as many viewers as MSNBC; CNN beat MSNBC two-to-one. Given those numbers, MSNBC is minor league, but only because NBC treats it that way. Fox and CNN play in the major leagues, and they’re given major-league support by News America and AOL/Time-Warner.
Last week meandted.com wrote that MSNBC did a good job in Iraq, and that its demographics are very good. Keith Olbermann’s new program is perfect. It’s Keith at his best. And then just when I think they’re beginning to get it right, Neal Shapiro comes out and refers to them as minor league.
Did Shapiro send Brian Williams down to the minor leagues for more seasoning? If I were Brian’s agent, I’d ask about that. If I were Bob Wright, I’d suggest to Neal Shapiro that MSNBC has the most upside of any NBC News product, and he ought to find a way to elevate MSNBC to major league status, that is, if he wants to keep his job.
As for Ashleigh Banfield, CNN should be checking out her availability for an early-morning television show, now that Paula Zahn has moved to prime time. The Times says that Banfield may be hard to work with; I think she’s worth the trouble.
Kudos
I saw Aaron Brown host a one-hour program, War Stories, this weekend. The stories sounded as if they came from the correspondents’ notebooks. On June 1, 1980, I dreamed that CNN would produce hours as good as this one.
April 22, 2008 24 Hour Advertising Comparison The numbers for the third week in April have just come in
and I think a snapshot of total audience eyes against advertising audience size
is both appropriate and enlightening. Once again FoxNews totally dominates
total viewers numbers, while the other networks are far more competitive when it
comes to the size of the audience that advertisers typically pay for, that is,
the 25 – 54 year olds who are watching the news. Fox has 44.3% of all the news viewers but only 33.8% of 25
– 54’s. CNN has 26.7% of total viewers and increases slightly to 27.2% of 25 –
54’s and MSNBC makes the greatest gains. With 16.1% of total audience MSNBC
gets 21.1% of the audience that advertisers pay for. Headline news also does
very well. Only 12.9% of total viewing is committed to Headline, but HLN earns
17.9% of the advertisers’ audience. Lumping CNN and HLN together gives CNN
salesmen a chance to sell 45% of total day audience in one bundle, which keeps
them well ahead (by 25% of Fox’s audience). These numbers are consistent with previous week’s numbers,
so perhaps it’s more than a snapshot. April 3, 2008 Election Predictions via the Ratings Books Most journalists use polls to figure out which political
party is winning. I use television ratings to figure it out. I assume all Fox
viewers are Republicans and only Dems watch CNN and MSNBC. I know that’s
incorrect, but I figure that countervailing errors balance the books. I don’t
include Headline News because only God knows who people that watch Glenn Beck
and Nancy Grace vote for. First I’ll throw out some numbers: In the first quarter 08 CNN and MSNBC combined for an
average prime time audience of 2,033,000 viewers. Fox averaged 1,812,000. In
2007, Fox averaged 1,601,000 while CNN and MSNBC only had 1,263,000. Fox had
211,000 more viewers this year, but CNN and MSNBC picked up 770,000. That’s a
swing of almost 400,000 viewers or voters depending upon whether or not you buy
my polling theory. The above would seem to indicate a massive Democratic
victory in November, but to be fair to both sides, the Democrats have had a far
more interesting primary race than the Republicans. Obama/Clinton generated a
lot more heat than McCain/Romney. Who knows how many Republicans stopped
watching just because their guys were so dull. Most interesting to me was the swing in young voters, the
18-34’s. This year CNN and MSNBC combined for 247,000 of them while Fox drew
only 95,000. Fox didn’t do all that well with the 25-54’s either. CNN and
MSNBC’s 769,000 almost doubled Fox’s 430,000. But Fox and the Republicans get
the old guys. Fox’s lead in the number of viewers 55 and older is so
great that overall, in total viewers, CNN and MSNBC beat Fox only 53% to 47%.
This presages a close election, but does not take into account the potential
loss of Democratic voters if Obama and Clinton fail to reunite the Party. In
that case, my news network metric predicts a Republican victory. If as few as 5%
of Democrats decide to sit out the election McCain wins. As an aside, this month’s prime time numbers were lower
than last months, I’m sure that’s because there were fewer live debates. In
prime time CNN averaged 400,000 fewer in March than in February. Fox was up
60,000 in March and MSNBC was up 10,000; CNN was the big loser because it
carried the most debates in the previous month. Nevertheless, 24 hour cable news
viewing is way up year to year and the all news networks are entitled to look
forward to 2008 with some confidence. April 1, 2008 When April Fooled Us All Today (probably yesterday by the time you read this) is the
27th anniversary of the worst April fools joke ever played on
America. Fifty-two Americans were being held hostage by Iranian students (the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard) at the American embassy in Tehran. Senator Ted
Kennedy was competing for the Democratic Presidential nomination against then
President Jimmy Carter in the Wisconsin primary. April 1, 1980 was Tuesday,
primary day, and President Carter’s biggest problem was his lack of success in
freeing the hostages. At approximately 7 a.m. that April morning President Carter
called a press conference to proclaim to the world progress in the hostage
crisis. The students were going to release the hostages to the Iranian
government so that serious negotiations could begin. Carter told the world that,
“The President of Iran has made a positive step by announcing that the control
of the hostages and their protection and care would be shifted to the Iranian
Government, and because of that positive step, we do not intend to carry out
additional sanctions against Iran at this time.” Winning Wisconsin was Senator Kennedy’s last chance to
capture the nomination and polls showed he was gaining momentum based primarily
on Carter’s lack of progress in Iran. Then Jimmy Carter made his morning
announcement adding that, “We will assume that the President [of Iran] will
carry out the commitments that he has made early this morning…” When queried
further, the President declared, “we have had, in response to our earlier
message, an answer from the Government of Iran through their President that the
control and the protection and the care of the hostages will be transferred from
the militants to the government.” It never happened. The hostages remained under the control
of the Revolutionary Guards, but Jimmy Carter did win the primary. Of course, on
that day he also raised the issue that would lead to his defeat by Ronald
Reagan. Some will recall Carter’s next effort, “Operation Eagle
Claw”, later in April -- an attempt to rescue the hostages through a helicopter
assault. That ended with the death of eight Americans in a desert sandstorm. A
few might even remember that late in the summer of 1980 CNN revealed that the
Carter administration, despite its public statements, had secretly been
negotiating with the Iranians through the notorious Hashemi brothers and had
made no progress. On the Sunday night before Election Day, President Carter
finally confessed that he had made no progress and the hostages would remain in
Tehran. Over the next twelve hours the President dropped six points in the
polls, half a point per hour, as Americans recognized Carter’s ineffectiveness.
Reagan won in a landslide. Jimmy Carter brought it on himself. By using the hostage
release as an issue in the primaries he confirmed to the political community its
power and resonance. He brought up the issue, he used it, he won the primary,
but he didn’t deliver. What he did deliver was the presidency to Ronald Reagan.
April Fool’s Day, everybody! February 8, 2008 Ratings: What A Week For
CNN I often promise I will
never again write about the weekly rating reports; they are unreliable. However,
sometimes they symbolize an important point. Last week, Jan 28 – Feb 3 proved
the importance of politics as entertainment. The number 2 and 3 most watched
cable channels in prime-time were #2 CNN and #3 FoxNews. Why did CNN beat FoxNews
for the first time in my memory? Because CNN aired two or three live
presidential debates compared to FoxNews’ one. CNN had its best week since 2003
in prime. It beat Fox in total day and every demographic. In total day, FoxNews
beat CNN in total audience but once again, CNN won in every demographic and it’s
the demographics that advertisers pay for. If Ted Turner had ever
become dictator, as he sometimes mused, he’d change the Constitution, hold
presidential elections every year and make CNN the world’s #1news network.
Incidentally, the elections
actually got more than 10% of people under 35 to watch the cable news networks.
Based on my numbers, which exclude 12-17 year olds, last week they reached 11%. January 31, 2008 January 2008 Year-to-Year Market Share and Politics as
Entertainment Presidential elections are great for the ratings. Before
cable networks gained almost 800,000 Primetime viewers this year over January
2007. Younger viewers (18-34) were particularly affected up more than 50%
totaling 369,000. Last year’s total was 237,000. Biggest primetime winner was
CNN, thanks to hosting so many Primary Debates. CNN was up more than 300,000
viewers in prime, MSNBC 200,000, Fox 140,000, and HLN almost 100,000. Total day
numbers were up as well, but percentage gains were far smaller. (CNN was up 108%
in 18-34 in Primetime) It looks as if Presidential Elections have become a major
profit center for cable news. January 2008 Market Share Primetime
Total Day Total Audience Fox 43
% Fox 43.3 % CNN 28.1
% CNN 27.7 % MSNBC 18.1 %
MSNBC 16.7 % HLN 10.8
% HLN 12.3 % Adults 25-54 Fox 33.3
% Fox 35.3 % CNN 30.8
% CNN 28.8 % MSNBC 23.1 %
MSNBC 20.4 % HLN 12.8
% HLN 15.5 % Adults 18-49 Fox 31.4
% Fox 33.9 % CNN 31.8
% CNN 29.4 % MSNBC 23.7 %
MSNBC 20.8 % HLN 13.1
% HLN 15.9 % Adults 18-34 Fox 26.6
% Fox 40.5 %
CNN 34.9
% CNN 27.5 % MSNBC 26.3 %
MSNBC 25.5 % HLN 12.2
% HLN 16.5 % Gross Audience Growth 2008-2007 Primetime Total Audience Growth January 2008 vs. January
2007 Fox + 8% CNN + 42% MSNBC + 37% HLN + 28% Total Day Total Audience Growth January 2008 vs. January
2007 Fox + 9% CNN + 17% MSNBC +11% HLN + 15% January 23, 2008 Market Share Briefing No numbers this week, just both CNN and Fox benefits by
hosting political debates. CNN does especially well. But, MSNBC beats CNN in all
Primetime demographics. That’s clearly a Nielsen one-of-a-kind, and makes up for
MSNBC’s poor showing a few weeks ago. Wait for next week when we get the monthly
report. January 16, 2008 Market Share—The New Hampshire Primary Strikes The usual disclaimer: week-to-week results don’t count,
except when they indicate something else. More than 900,000 more Americans watched cable news in
Primetime last week than in the week before. Fox was the third most watched of
all ad supported cable networks, moving up from sixth place from the week
before, and CNN went from twenty-third to thirteenth. MSNBC dropped two slots
while HLN moved up from thirty-ninth to thirty-first. For the second straight
week, CNN edged Fox News in the 18-34 demographic, but both averaged over a
hundred thousand viewers. Younger folks seem to be paying far more attention to
the primaries than they are to the usual Primetime talkers. Market share remains
consistent, but last week HLN did break into double digits in all categories—low
double digits, but still double digits. Primetime
Total Day Total Audience Fox 45.7 %
Fox 45.0%
CNN 30.0 % CNN
27.0%
MSNBC 15.7 % MSNBC 16.0%
HLN 11.6 % HLN
12.0 % Adults 25-54 Fox 36.3 %
Fox 37.3%
CNN 29.4 %
CNN 28.3%
MSNBC 21.1 % MSNBC 19.8%
HLN 13.2 % HLN 14.6 % Adults 18-49 Fox 35.0%
Fox 36.2%
CNN 30.7 % CNN
29.4%
MSNBC 21.0% MSNBC 19.5%
HLN 13.3 % HLN
14.9 % Adults 18-34 Fox 30.3
% Fox 31.7%
CNN
34.4%
CNN 31.2%
MSNBC 22.8%
MSNBC 22.3%
HLN 12.5 % HLN 14.8 % Meaningless Market Share January 8, 2008 Week to week continue to be meaningless. Nevertheless,
sometimes they are interesting. HLN dropped right off the rating screen in the first week
of January, single digits in some key areas. Maybe somebody was on vacation,
maybe everybody was consumed by Iowa, and New Hampshire, but probably Nielsen
will even it out next week, and I’ll be back to report on the anomaly. December Cable News Market Share
Year-to-Year Comparison
January 3, 2008 Cable News viewing shares seemed to have stabilized. MSNBC
still picks market share year to year, but month to month, MSNBC is down a
little bit. Olbermann is no longer making major gains, and it looks as if
Primetime market share will hover around 46% Fox, CNN 25%, MSNBC 17%, and HLN
12%. The Total Day breakdown looks to be Fox 44%, CNN 26%, MSNBC 17%, and HLN
13%. Fox’s lead in advertisers supported demographic categories
is less but they still run about 10% higher than CNN with MSNBC about another 5
points back, and HLN 4% behind MSNBC. I’ll look at January numbers and unless there are major
changes, maybe switch to quarter-to-quarter reviews. I’d hate to think that
cable news market share numbers are etched in stone, but maybe… By the
way overall Primetime viewer ship is up about 6%. I attribute it to campaign
watching, although I switch to another channel every time I hear the word Iowa. Prime Time Programming Dec 2007
Dec 2006 Total Audience Fox 47.0%
Fox 49.0% CNN 24.5
% CNN 26.1 % MSNBC 16.2 %
MSNBC 13.3 % HLN 12.3 %
HLN 11.6% Adults 25-54 Fox 37.3 %
Fox 40.6 % CNN 25.9
% CNN 26.3 % MSNBC 21.5%
MSNBC 18.6%
HLN
15.3% HLN 14.5 % Adults 18-49 Fox 35.2 %
Fox 38.5 % CNN 26.1
% CNN 26.8% MSNBC 22.9%
MSNBC 19.2 % HLN 15.8
% HLN 15.5 % Adults 18-34 Fox 27.6 %
Fox 33.5%
CNN
27.6% CNN 28.2 % MSNBC 29.0 %
MSNBC 22.9%
HLN 15.8
% HLN 15.4%
Total Programming Day Total Dec 2007
Total Dec 2006 Total Audience Fox 44.1 %
Fox 46.2% CNN 26.0
% CNN 26.8 % MSNBC 16.6 %
MSNBC 14.8 % HLN 13.3
% HLN 12.2% Adults 25-54 Fox 30.2 %
Fox 37.4 % CNN 21.4
% CNN 26.5 % MSNBC 16.7 %
MSNBC 20.1 % HLN 12.9
% HLN 16.0% Adults 18-49 Fox 37.4
% Fox 35.7%
CNN 26.5
% CNN 26.2 % MSNBC 20.1%
MSNBC 21.4%
HLN 16.0
% HLN 16.7 % Adults 18-34 Fox 28.2
% Fox 33.6%
CNN 26.9
% CNN 28.5 % MSNBC 26.9 %
MSNBC 19.7%
HLN 18.0
% HLN 18.2%
December 11, 2007 Ratings Not So Ho Hum.
In the wake of last week’s CNN/ YouTube triumph, this
week’s CNN numbers are a major disappointment. Once again, no percentages,
because it’s still only one week and they don’t count, but I cannot recall that
CNN has ever done worse in Prime or Total Day, in Total audience or in demos,
than it did 12/3/07 – 12/10/07. I’m not sure how Nielsen does it, but CNN’s Prime Total Day
audience was down more than 50% week-to-week. There was no YouTube debate, but
still??? Maybe next week’s Nielsens will equalize, but I’m more than eager to
finish the month. December 5, 2007 One-shots This week’s audience numbers are in, and as promised, I
will not analyze or attempt to do market share. The one item of interest is CNN’s gain in Primetime
audience—almost 1.2 million viewers as opposed to Fox’s 1.5 million. That sounds
terrific until you recall that last week featured the CNN-YouTube Debate. Okay,
now it's just ho hum, wait ‘till next week. November 29, 2007 November ’07 Cable News Market
Share Year to Year Comparison November is a sweeps month, a time when advertisers
negotiate and rates are set. The cable news networks seem to have done okay.
This year’s news audience was slightly bigger during Primetime and a bit down in
Total Day. For FoxNews the results were split—Total audience market
share up for both Primetime and Total Day; but market share down in all the
advertisers supported demographic categories, demonstrating the aging of the
FoxNews audience. Fox has little to worry about otherwise, since it still far
out performs the other networks in the key 25-54 year old category. CNN has taken the hardest hit—market shares down in every
category. MSNBC was the winner. It picked up market share of adults
25-54 and 18-49 in both Primetime and Total Day. It seems that Keith Olbermann
is the only television news man with special appeal to younger viewers. HLN continues to surprise me. Tabloid stars Nancy Grace
and Glenn Beck have added a point and a half to HLN’s Primetime overall share
and two and a half points to its 25-54 year old audience. Fox maintains a roughly 35% market share in all
demographic categories, CNN is in the 25% range, and MSNBC in the 20’s (25% in
Primetime), with HLN under 15%. Year to Year Bullet Points: Olbermann has emerged as a star 45% of cable news viewers continue to watch FoxNews. HLN goes tabloid and gains ground. CNN drifts downward. Prime Time Programming Nov 2007
Nov 2006 Total Audience Fox 44.9%
Fox 44.7%
CNN 24.3 % CNN 27.3 %
MSNBC 18.2 % MSNBC 16.9%
HLN 12.6 % HLN 11.1% Adults 25-54 Fox 35.0 %
Fox 38.2 % CNN 24.7
% CNN 27.0 % MSNBC 24.5%
MSNBC 21.4%
HLN 15.8
% HLN 13.4 % Adults 18-49 Fox 32.9
% Fox 34.2%
CNN 25.5
% CNN 28.1% MSNBC 26.0%
MSNBC 23.5 % HLN 15.6
% HLN 14.2 % Adults 18-34 Fox 25.5 %
Fox 28.6%
CNN
25.9% CNN 31.7 % MSNBC 35.2 %
MSNBC 26.8%
HLN 13.4
% HLN 12.9%
Total Programming Day Total Nov 2007
Total Nov 2006 Total Audience Fox 44.3 %
Fox 42.5% CNN 24.9
% CNN 28.1 % MSNBC 16.9 %
MSNBC 17.6 % HLN 13.9
% HLN 11.8% Adults 25-54 Fox 36.8 %
Fox 38.3 % CNN 25.0
% CNN 27.3 % MSNBC 21.1 %
MSNBC 20.6%
HLN 17.1
% HLN 13.8% Adults 18-49 Fox 34.5
% Fox 35.3%
CNN 25.7
% CNN 27.9 % MSNBC 22.7%
MSNBC 21.8%
HLN 17.1 %
HLN 15.0 % Adults 18-34 Fox 25.3
% Fox 28.7%
CNN 26.0
% CNN 30.0 % MSNBC 32.7 %
MSNBC 23.8%
HLN 16.0
% HLN 17.5%
Wednesday, November 20, 2007 CNN Wins in Primetime The pendulum swings, and Nielsen always makes it work. Two
weeks ago MSNBC led CNN in all three primetime demographics. This week, CNN wins
in every area. Moreover, CNN beat Fox in Adults 25-54, Adults 18-49, and Adults
18-34. It’s CNN’s biggest comeback of the year, but what it really shows is that
week by week ratings don’t count for much. I think I’m going to stick to monthly
from now on. In total day, Fox continued to dominate, and key (25-54,
18-49) demographics. One trend holds constant. Fox’s news market share gets
smaller and smaller as the audience gets younger and younger. I remain
considerably impressed by Fox’s special appeal to viewers over 55. I am not sure
that impresses advertisers. On the other hand MSNBC’s market share goes up as
the demographics get younger. Thanks again to Cynthia and Synopsis. Week of 11/12/2007-11/18/2007 Primetime
Total Day Total Audience Fox 40.7 %
Fox 43.3% CNN
32.4% CNN 27.2%
MSNBC 14.8% MSNBC 15.8%
HLN 12.1% HLN 13.7% Adults 25-54 Fox 31.8
% Fox 34.1% CNN
33.3% CNN 26.0% MSNBC
20.0% MSNBC 18.9% HLN
14.9% HLN 15.0 % Adults 18-49 Fox 30.3 %
Fox 33.9 % CNN 34.4
% CNN 28.5 % MSNBC 20.9%
MSNBC 22.0% HLN
14.4% HLN 15.6% Adults 18-34 Fox 24.7 % Fox 26.5%
CNN
39.4% CNN 29.4% MSNBC 25.1 %
MSNBC 29.4 %
HLN 10.8% HLN 14.7
%
Thursday, November 15, 2007 The Olbermann Network This week’s market share numbers continue to point out
Keith Olbermann’s importance to MSNBC. He carries a load in primetime, where
MSNBC numbers are substantially better than its total day numbers in all
demographic categories. He’s three share points better in adults 25-54 and
18-49. He’s five points better in 18-34. CNN primetime has come back to edge out MSNBC for second
place in all demographic categories. I think if it were not for Olbermann at 8
PM, CNN, which has a considerable lead over MSNBC in all total day categories,
would be doing much better in prime. That brings us to, Campbell Brown, CNN’s new 8 PM anchor.
She’s up against a lot of testosterone, going head to head with Olbermann and
O’Reilly. Maybe CNN thinks that women will welcome a little relief from male
hormones, and take comfort in Ms. Brown’s lower key style. We’ll find out soon
enough. Here are last week’s numbers. Please note the decline of
HLN. More next week.
Primetime Total Day Total Audience
Fox 48.6%
Fox 45.2%
CNN
23.0% CNN
25.8%
MSNBC 16.5% MSNBC
15.6%
HLN 11.9%
HLN 13.4% Adults 25-54
Fox 38.2% Fox
37.3%
CNN 23.8%
CNN 26.6%
MSNBC 22.5% MSNBC 19.3%
HLN 15.5% HLN 16.8% Adults 18-49
Fox
36.1% Fox20%
CNN 25.2%
CNN28.2% MSNBC 22.9%
MSNBC 19.7%
HLN 15.8%
HLN 17.1% Adults 18-34
Fox 26.3% Fox 23.8%
CNN
26.8% CNN 31.5%
MSNBC 34.5% MSNBC 29.4% HLN
12.4% HLN 15.3% Wednesday, November 7, 2007 An Aberration So Strange It’s
Worth Reporting Primetime rating results in the third week of October
differed so greatly from the second week—Fox gained so much, MSNBC lost so
heavily, that it’s worth noting even though by next week everything may be back
to normal. Fox gained over all its competitors, but it was MSNBC that took the
worst hit. Here’s the chart. Primetime
Total Day Total Audience Fox 45.2 %
Fox 44.4 % CNN 19.4
% CNN 23.8 % MSNBC 22.7%
MSNBC 18.2% HLN 12.7
% HLN 13.6 % Adults 25-54 Fox 34.4 %
Fox 37.1 % CNN 21.1
% CNN 24.7 % MSNBC 27.9 %
MSNBC 21.1 % HLN 15.6
% HLN 17.1 % Adults 18-49 Fox 32.2 %
Fox 34.8 % CNN
22.1% CNN 25.0 % MSNBC 30.3 %
MSNBC 23.1 % HLN 15.4 %
HLN 17.1 % Adults 18-34 Fox 24.5
% Fox
25.9%
CNN 17.0 % CNN 22.4 % MSNBC 41.5 %
MSNBC 34.7 % HLN 17.0
% HLN 17.0 % Fox gained 3.5% market share in total persons viewing,
MSNBC was down 2.7%. In persons 25-54, Fox was up 3.4% and MSNBC was down 2.1%.
18-49 shows the biggest change-- Fox plus 6%, and MSNBC down 4%. That was the
biggest change except for 18-34 which we really shouldn’t count because the
numbers are so small. Their Fox gained 11% and MSNBC lost 14%. But all that
proves is that those numbers don’t mean anything, except perhaps on a quarterly
basis. Perhaps Neilsen changed the sample or a bolt of lightning
stuck the computer. Otherwise, it was a bad week for MSNBC. Tuesday, October 30, 2007 Fox Ages—October Ratings The most striking number in the October ratings is 7%.
That’s 7% more primetime Fox News total persons viewing this year than last
October. In every other category Fox lost. Of course, CNN lost viewers in every
meaningful category, while NBC’s audience gains flattened or disappeared. Here’s
a look: Total Programming Total Oct 2007
Total Oct 2006 Total Audience Fox 44.5 %
Fox 43.9% CNN 26.5
% CNN 27.3 % MSNBC 15.8 %
MSNBC 15.9 % HLN 13.2
% HLN 12.9% Adults 25-54 Fox 37.3
% Fox 39 % CNN 28.3
% CNN 26.7 % MSNBC 18.7 %
MSNBC 18.9 % HLN 15.7 %
HLN 14.7 % Adults 18-49 Fox 35.2 %
Fox 37.6 % CNN 28
% CNN 26.8 % MSNBC 20.2%
MSNBC 19.2 % HLN 16.6 %
HLN 16.4 % Adults 18-34 Fox 25.8%
Fox 33.3%
CNN 26.5 %
CNN 26.1 % MSNBC 29.8 %
MSNBC 20.3%
HLN 17.9
% HLN 20.3%
Total day viewing was down slightly--2% ’06-’07, but year
to year total day market shares was remarkably consistent. Fox market share was
slightly up in total persons, but CNN gained in the key advertising segments
25-54 and 18-49. MSNBC market share was slightly down in all categories while
HLN declined in 3 out of 4. But the numbers are marginal! Prime Time Programming Oct 2007
Oct 2006 Total Audience Fox 47.2 %
Fox 46.5% CNN 24.0
% CNN 25.7 % MSNBC 16.5 %
MSNBC 15.1 % HLN 12.3
% HLN 12.7% Adults 25-54 Fox 37.0 %
Fox 40.3%
CNN 26.7
% CNN 25.2 % MSNBC 21.6 %
MSNBC 18.8 % HLN 14.7
% HLN 15.7 % Adults 18-49 Fox 34.8 %
Fox 37.5%
CNN 26.5
% CNN 25.6 % MSNBC 23.1%
MSNBC 19.7 % HLN 15.6
% HLN 17.2 % Adults 18-34 Fox 27.2 %
Fox 32.4%
CNN 25.4
% CNN 25.7 % MSNBC 31.6 %
MSNBC
23.5% HLN 15.8
% HLN 18.4%
The Olbermann affect is still in effect. MSNBC has gained
market share in every primetime category—1.4% in total viewing—2.8% in adult
25-54— 3.4% in adult 18-49—8.1% in the notoriously unreliable 18-34 numbers. Fox
has been the greatest loser with in the advertising categories, although its
aging viewers have upped its share in total viewing audience. CNN and HLN have
lost total audience share, but CNN has gained in the 25-54 and 18-49. The only
thing I’ll bet on here is that Olbermann is probably underpaid, although the
Olbermann surge may be over. Wednesday, October 24, 2007 An Aberration So Strange It’s
Worth Reporting Primetime rating results in the third week of October
differed so greatly from the second week—Fox gained so much, MSNBC lost so
heavily, that it’s worth noting even though by next week everything may be back
to normal. Fox gained over all its competitors, but it was MSNBC that took the
worst hit. Here’s the chart. Primetime
Total Day Total Audience Fox 49.5 %
Fox 45.1 % CNN 23.3
% CNN 25.8 % MSNBC 15.3%
MSNBC 15.6% HLN 11.9
% HLN 13.5 % Adults 25-54 Fox 40.5 %
Fox 37.7 % CNN 23.4
% CNN 27.4 % MSNBC 20.4
% MSNBC 18.4 % HLN 14.7
% HLN 16.5 % Adults 18-49 Fox 40.1 %
Fox 34.9 % CNN
23.9% CNN 27.9 % MSNBC 20.9 %
MSNBC 19.5 % HLN 15.1 %
HLN 17.7 % Adults 18-34
Fox 35.8% Fox 22.5% CNN 27.4
% CNN 23.5 % MSNBC 20.5 %
MSNBC 28.9% HLN 16.3
% HLN 20.1% Fox gained 3.5% market share in total persons viewing,
MSNBC was down 2.7%. In persons 25-54, Fox was up 3.4% and MSNBC was down 2.1%.
18-49 shows the biggest change-- Fox plus 6%, and MSNBC down 4%. That was the
biggest change except for 18-34 which we really shouldn’t count because the
numbers are so small. Their Fox gained 11% and MSNBC lost 14%. But all that
proves is that those numbers don’t mean anything, except perhaps on a quarterly
basis. Perhaps Neilsen changed the sample or a bolt of lightning
stuck the computer. Otherwise, it was a bad week for MSNBC. Wednesday, October 3, 2007 News
Channel Ratings Triple
Witching Hour Weekly,
Monthly, Quarterly I’ve just gotten my hands
on the news ratings for last week, last month with year-to-year comparisons, and
last quarter with year-to-year comparisons. Year-to-year, not much good news
for anybody but MSNBC. Not to be too negative about news, most of the other
cable networks are down as well. Maybe people were just burned out on all TV
this summer. On the positive side in
primetime: MSNBC total audience was up 46% third quarter ’07 over third quarter
’06. As for the demos, MSNBC 25-54s were up 41%--18-49s up 65%. Headline News
did OK gaining 12% in total viewers, 11% in 18-49s and 9% in 25-54s. On the debit side in
primetime: FoxNews lost 6% in total audience, 17% in 25-54s and 12% in 18-49s.
The demos indicate that Fox grows older every quarter. CNN dropped single digits
in all three categories, 7%, 8%, 9%. Over the 20-hour
programming day MSNBC gained 22% in total viewers, 16% in 25-54s and 27% in
18-49s. Headline picked up 9%, 4% and 2% in the same categories. Once again, Fox
led the downers, 10% in total viewers, 20% in 25-54s, and 16% in 18-49s. CNN
lost 9% total viewers, 16% 25-54s, and 17% 18-49s. Altogether, not a good summer
ratings book. Maybe it’s because we had an election in ‘06 and we’re only
talking about one in ’07--politics groupies may have taken a respite. September was a cruel month
for news--the monthly prime-time total viewers show: Fox down 3%. CNN down 10%.
Headline News down 3% but MSNBC gained 40%. As to monthly demos: adults 25-54
Fox down 12%; CNN down 7%; Headline News down 16% and MSNBC up 36%. The 18-49s
show Fox down 36%; CNN down 19%; Headline News down 20%, and MSNBC up 40%. Total day viewing shows
MSNBC up 21% in total viewers, 10% in 25-54s and 24% in 18-49s. Once again MSNBC
picks up younger eyeballs. Headline News was down 1% in total viewers, 8% in
25-54s and 9% in 18-49s. Fox and CNN almost broke even with Fox down 2% in total
viewers and CNN down 4%. But the demographics were far worse. Fox lost 20% of
its 25-54s and 16% of its 18-49s. CNN was down 11% in 25-54s and 12% in 18-49s.
Quarter-to-quarter and
monthly fluctuations are meaningful. Primetime MSNBC offers real competition to
CNN and MSNBC’s gains should hold up for a while, at least as long as
Olbermann’s contract lasts. To summarize third quarter: bad for CNN, worse for
Fox, break-even for Headline and a clear victory for MSNBC. Latest quarter market
share: Primetime
Total Day Total Audience Fox 45 %
Fox 43 % CNN 26
% CNN 27 % MSNBC 17 %
MSNBC 17 % HLN 12
% HLN 13 % Adults 25-54 Fox 35 %
Fox 37 % CNN 27
% CNN 27 % MSNBC 23 %
MSNBC 21 % HLN 15
% HLN 15 % Adults 18-49 Fox 34
% Fox 35 % CNN 26
% CNN 25 %