TVNewser’s Alex Weprin notes that FNC was the #1 cable network last week and does so with a nice spiffy FNC PR supplied graphic…
Correction: TVNewser’s Alex Weprin says that the graphic is their creation and wasn’t FNC supplied. Well, it looked like the kind of graphic FNC would whip up but obviously I was wrong and I must apologize to both TVNewser and FNC for my lousy guess.
The bombing in Boston and the explosion in Texas dominated cable news last week, and the cable news channels saw ratings surges as a result. Fox News was the number one cable channel in both primetime and total day, the first time that happened since last year’s Presidential election, and the first time it happened in a non-election week since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. CNN meanwhile rose to 3rd among ad-supported cable channels (4th among all cable channels), its best placement in years.
FNC’s gratuitous victory lap chart aside, there is no denying this was a huge week for the network and underscores that even with its breaking news brand working in its favor, CNN is still in a very tough fight for the hearts and minds of TV viewers when big news breaks.
The other big takeaway from this item is how poorly MSNBC fared relative to CNN and FNC. This is underscored by what happened Friday night which this CNN release from yesterday illustrates…
CNN WAS #1 IN CABLE NEWS ON FRIDAY IN KEY DEMOS 25-54, 18-34
Network Has Best Delivery Since Election Day and Highest Non-Political Delivery in 10 Years
CNN Digital Posts Record Numbers; Highest Traffic of 2013, Among Top Days in History
According to Nielsen time period data for Friday, April 19, CNN was the top-rated cable news outlet averaging 2.47 million viewers in primetime and 1.34 million in total day in the key demo adults 25-54. FXNC followed with 1.93 million in primetime and 953k in total day and MSNBC posted 618k and 387k respectively in the key target demo adults 25-54.
CNN also ranked #1 in cable news among younger viewers 18-34 in primetime with 1.01 million and #2 in all of television (NBC averaged 1.22 million). CNN’s 18-34 primetime performance is +25% above ABC’s 808k, +60% ahead of CBS’ 631k, +140% over FXNC’s 420k, and +327% above MSNBC’s 236k.
On Friday, CNN posted its highest total day total viewer, 25-54 and 18-34 audiences since Election Day 2012 (Election Day total viewers 3.48 million, 25-54 1.70 million and 18-34 1.02 million). Across all demos (total viewers, 25-54, 18-34), Friday was the network’s highest total day performance (non-political) in 10 years (since the Iraq War).
Compared to the prior four Fridays, CNN had the largest total day growth in cable news – increasing +1168% in 25-54 and +788% in total viewers. FXNC was up +333% in the demo and +73% in total viewers, and MSNBC increased +231% and +220% respectively
If I’m Comcast and I’m looking at these numbers, I’m clenching my teeth at the fact that my cable news network is able to do well when news doesn’t break but gets trounced by its competitors when it does.
Filed under: CNN, FNC, MSNBC
