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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Ratings For The Week of April 20, 2009

CNN is letting YOU grade President Barack Obama.

Watch The CNN National Report Card: First 100 Days on Wednesday, April 29 (7pm ET) and let your voice be heard. Led by anchors Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John King and Soledad O’Brien, the show will gauge the public’s opinion on how President Obama and other elected officials have handled their first 100 days in office, as well as how the country is progressing on significant issues.

Throughout the evening, CNN will open up voting on a variety of important topics letting real viewers voice their real thoughts and criticisms. Viewers will be able to share their opinion on CNN.com, with the results appearing immediately online and on television. In addition to real-time grading on CNN.com, the “First 100 Days” special report will allow users to watch video and weigh in on stories about the Obama administration in its first 100 days at www.CNN.com/First100Days. The special report will feature an issues tracker that examines action on topics such as the economy and health care, a photo gallery from the first 100 days and a quiz, testing readers' knowledge of 100-day events.

Tune into The CNN National Report Card: First 100 Days on Wednesday, April 29th (7pm ET) on CNN. Let your voice be heard.




Ratings for the week April 20, 2009 - April 24, 2009

8PM^
Adults 25-54
FOX760,400
CNN177,600
MSNBC355,200
HLN384,400
9PM^
Adults 25-54
FOX600,400
CNN285,800
MSNBC283,600
HLN127,200
10PM^
Adults 25-54
FOX610,800
CNN299,400
MSNBC191,400
HLN250,200

Here's your rundown of last week's cable news ratings for the Adults 25 - 54 demographic:

CNN had a repeat of last week's rankings. At 8PM, they remain in fourth. Even though they only managed a second place finish twice last week, their average ratings for the week are just slightly better than MSNBC to grab second. At 10PM, they were a consistent second.

MSNBC took third place at both 8PM and 9PM and slip to fourth during the 10PM hour.

HLN came in second place at 8PM; fourth place at 9PM; and third place at 10PM.




^ Courtesy Nielsen Media Research; Demographics where noted; Live + Same Day (LS) Fast Track Nationals.

With the news media preparing to grade President Obama on his first 100 days, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey to see grade the news media on their coverage of the new administration.

Here's how the top news networks ranked when asked the following questions:

Which Networks Are
Too Critical of Obama?
And Which Are
Too Easy?
Fox News29%CNN16%
CNN11%MSNBC16%
MSNBC8%NBC15%
ABC4%ABC14%
NBC4%CBS5%
CBS3%Fox News5%


TV Week recently released their TV News' 10 Most Powerful. CNN came in third this year:

3. CNN Team

Jim Walton, president, CNN Worldwide

Jon Klein, president, CNN/U.S.

Ken Jautz, executive VP, CNN Worldwide, responsible for HLN

Can a network be classified as bipolar? Despite the overstuffed pundit panels and Wolf Blitzer’s “best political team on television” tic, CNN’s election coverage was singled out for a Peabody Award and boosted the network to its best year ever in 2008; likewise for CNN HLN (formerly Headline News) and CNN.com. If only the flagship network had been able to entice those viewers to stick around.

The network’s March numbers were still slightly ahead of last year, so CNN is seeing some benefit from the pre-election tune-in. But competitively, CNN’s primetime standing has plummeted as Fox and MSNBC have seen their numbers surge. It frequently finishes fourth in key demos in some timeslots, the only consolation being that one of those it’s losing to is HLN.

CNN argues that it’s the only pure-play hard-news network, and shouldn’t be compared to Fox and MSNBC with their delineated politics in primetime. That might resonate more if only Mr. Klein didn’t undercut the argument by promptly answering “Roger Ailes” when asked at a recent forum to name the “single most important problem” facing his network.

While the primetime lineup still suffers from an identity crisis, there are signs of hope elsewhere on the schedule, including John King’s new Sunday morning show, which has had a promising debut. Meanwhile, HLN is stronger than ever, and any pain of seeing former HLN-er Glenn Beck break out on Fox has been ameliorated by the surprising success that his replacement, Jane Velez-Mitchell, has shown in his slot.



And here's a round up of some of the latest rating related articles:

New York Times: With Rivals Ahead, Doubts for CNN’s Middle Road

CNN has even dipped behind its sister network HLN (formerly Headline News) on many occasions. Since the beginning of 2009, CNN has finished fourth in prime time among the cable news networks on 35 out of 84 weeknights.

The development raises an obvious question: With its rivals stoking prime time with high-octane political opinion and rant, can CNN compete effectively with a formula of news delivered more or less straight?

Executives of competitors and even some of CNN’s own staff members say recent trends suggest the answer may be no.

“The people who watch these channels are news junkies,” said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC. “They’ve already had access to the headlines all day long on the Internet. In prime time you’ve got to stand out and make a splash.”

One veteran CNN correspondent agreed. “All of a sudden it seems a little unfashionable to be in the middle,” said the correspondent, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely about CNN’s strategy. “I think people are struggling with that.”

CNN’s management disavows any struggles and says it is standing steadfast with its “no bias” strategy. For one thing, they argue, it is effective: CNN’s overall ratings are up from last year, and significantly up over the last three years. More important, they say, profits are up.

Jim Walton, the president of CNN Worldwide, said CNN had posted double-digit profit growth for five straight years. SNL Kagan, a media research firm, backed those growth figures for CNN and estimates that for 2009, earnings for CNN (including HLN) before taxes and depreciation will be about $455 million.

CNN is doing more business in integrated sales to advertisers across platforms that include its widely viewed Web site and its international channel, Mr. Walton said. “Prime time represents only 10 percent of our annual revenue.”

But that 10 percent is still the biggest individual chunk of CNN’s cash flow, and, as competitors like Mr. Griffin eagerly note, CNN has no problem stating how well it does in prime time when it manages to win a night — like election night and inauguration night.

That points to the dilemma facing CNN: It remains the destination of choice when big events are happening. CNN is, Mr. Griffin acknowledged, “the Coca-Cola of news, the greatest news brand in the world.”

But translating that impressive brand value into a winning performance in television’s most competitive and lucrative hours is proving to be a challenge.

... to continue reading ...



MediaWeek: Lofty Ambitions: Fox News Guns for USA Net's Top Rung

While pundits of all stripes will fall all over themselves this week as they try to assess the impact of President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office, for Fox News Channel there’s nothing ambiguous about what the new administration has delivered…from a ratings perspective, anyway.

Since the inauguration, Fox News commands nearly half of the gross ratings points in the cable news marketplace, and is now on course to mark its tenth straight week as ad-supported cable’s No. 2 network.

Naturally, Fox News says that second place isn’t good enough. Even after taking the silver among ad-supported cable in the first quarter of 2009, averaging 2.26 million total viewers to USA Network’s record delivery of 3.26 million, the channel won’t rest until it has reached the summit. In short, FNC wants to win the prime-time ratings crown outright, and as the upfront season approaches, its ad sales team is trumpeting that message to media buyers.

... to continue reading ...




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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wake up CNN.CNN needs to realize that the left
vs right ideological game is a thing of the past
in America. This country is more diverse and
younger and has a population of 300 million
plus. The people who buy into this junk watch
FNC and listen to talk radio, they will never
watch CNN. Talk radio and cable news just
do not get it. I am with Phil Griffin, what is
CNN suppose to be these days. The troubling
thing is that CNN seems to be adding more
talking heads, which that CNN needs a good
dose of reality. If the network's ratings are
going down, why would you do more of the
same ? Oh I get it, they are pretty much like
the Republican party these days. The world
has changed and someone at CNN better
wake up before it is too late. Nobody wants
to here from pundits and the talk radio crowd
that time ended with the election of President
Obama, the first 2.0 president.

Anonymous said...

CNN needs new and better programs
Monday-Sunday. All of the talk has just
made CNN too boring to watch. Hire some
40-something hipsters who get the picture
as a part of the management.

Anonymous said...

CNN is my favorite news channel and has been since it's inception...BUT..you people switch anchors faster then is prudent..I liked Miles O Brian and Soledad in the morning and now these people I never heard of and 3 hours of wolf is to much..we need more Cafferty and then some stability..you will never get the ratings if we never know from one week to the next who is gonna be on..what ever happened to Aaron Brown? I liked him too...Please get it set...then stick with them for a while.

Anonymous said...

That national report card was awful.
CNN should have stuck with reporters,
Gergen, Zakaria and the intellectuals.
Never do this again.

Anonymous said...

I was just on TV by the Numbers.CNN is number
4 or lower in the demo 42 % in the 25-54 demo
in prime time. Maybe it is time to pull the plug
on the stunts like the faux twitter hour and the
misuse of technology. CNN needs to hire some
one who really understands how to use tech
does not look dumb.It is like CNN has switched
places with MSNBC. For 10 years MSNBC tried
it with the ideologues and they almost did not
make it. Stephen Hayes and Bill Bennett got on
my nerves.I turned the channel.

Anonymous said...

Well TV by the Numbers has the ratings for
last night. The only bright spot was the actual
live press conference. Please Jim Walton,stop
it.CNN needs to realize the world has changed,
not one single program on CNN actually does
the big news stories of the day. President Obama
is on to something when he mentions the cable
news chatter.It is not worth watching. There was
no reason for 360 not be airing in it's regular
time slot last night.Zakaria was on to something
last night when he did not take the bait for the
grade silliness. There has been a realignment
in America. The same old faces who played
roles in the dumbing down of tv news are still
around. When Jon Klein first came to CNN he
got rid of Crossfire. There was a sense that
finally a network news executive realized
people were tired of the blah blah everything
is political mess.It makes me tune out. In
the modern social network era in America who
cares what a commentator on tv thinks. At
this rate CNN could become irrelevant. Why
do they think it is appropriate for a pundit
to handle breaking news. Why can't AC or
Erica anchor on breaking news nights,having
pundits handle breaking news makes you the
FNC. And I think that is the problem for CNN
these days they are too much like FNC. Why
go there ? People on Digg submit better news
items than you see on the air on CNN.It is
time for a extreme cable news makeover.
No more talking heads. I understand the
stories I see,please do not insult my
intelligence. Boy Dirty Laundry best describes
CNN these days.

Anonymous said...

It is simple CNN is out of touch. I am sick of
words like outrage and angry and phases like
keeping them honest and it's your money.

Anonymous said...

It's no wonder CNN is ranking 4th with the "crapola" they pulled on Wednesday on the "swagga" of Pres. Obama. Is CNN serious? Kyra Phillips and TJ Holmes need to be ashamed of themselves. And Kyra had the heart to add that TJ had "swagga" too and that he came in on his day off. Why didn't he stay home? How the hell was that news worthy? That should have been a private conversation. I had to switch after my confusion of thinking I was watching E and not a "news" program. And to make matters worse the music in the background Jay Z and TI's track "Swagga Like Us". You've got to be kidding me!!!! I starting watching CNN in high school, Wolf Blitzer to be exact during the Gulf War. CNN is NO LONGER the leader in news. This was just a new low for an already sinking ship.

Anonymous said...

CNN needs to go back to school to understand
modern journalism.It is not ideological but
informative, it is not talk but a huge selection
of topics because audiences have many interests.
Modern journalism or broadcast news programs
also teach how to cover news on multiple
platforms.I also have a problem with the way CNN
does graphics and shoots everything off of the
huge monitor. What is wrong with full screen ?
I understand the use of the monitors when coming
out of commercials and a quick look at the stories,
but clean up the clutter with the graphics and
let's see more full screen video. Also develop
some new camera shots and get some modern
music or use music from songs that are out
there. Also, there is some great reporting out
there in Rolling Stone,Vanity Fair, Time and
many others. Please hire people who's job
it is to search for news on the internet,
mags and papers. Ignore the political blogs
and talk radio and for goodness sake can
the overload of polls and opinion.CNN,
MSNBC and FNC are all forcing me to get
most of my news from the internet.It is the
only way to find out what is really going on.
CNN just seems to have gotten out of the
news biz.I am becoming a huge fan of Tina
Brown , who does the Daily Beast, She took the news biz to task recently for laying off
reporters but no pundits. Why is this? What
is more important to your existence.
CNN needs to upgrade CNN.com
and all of it's blogs.Hello are there any multi-
media experts at CNN.I must say this.
Martin's program is getting better. It seems
someone has realized you need pros who
are on CNN. Jessica Yellin is growing on me.
Maybe CNN needs to have a program with
all of their talent talking about the big stories
of the day even on weekends.Also there
seems to be a certain arrogance on CNN
these days. We know more than Obama or
people running things.No you do not you
are on tv news and America has a president
and cabinet who reads and is actually more
informed than the press that covers the
administration.Finally, quit sounding just
like the Republicans when covering President
Obama. When your words sound just like the
GOP, in this day and time you have a huge
problem. Who's dumb idea was it to hire
Bush administration officials and rely on
people from the Clinton administration?
It is time for these people who have been
around on the cable channels chattering
for the last 20 years to move off the stage.
If CNN is really serious about hearing from
viewers give people the chance to submit
stories that will be a nightly news program
and if you can not figure out a way to use
real-time blogging. Don't bother.CNN had
better fix the morning show, all hours of
Newsroom.TSR, cancel Lou Dobbs and
No Bias, retool LKL and let 360 get back
to being the hip newscast it once was.
But I would not hold my breath. For some
strange reason I don't think management
has any clue as to how to fix CNN. The
100 day fiasco proves than. Oh yeah I
forget definitely do something about weekends.
Do we really need to see Larry King 7 days a
week or TSR reruns on weekends. What is
up with airing the same doc money, and
political shows on weekends. Why is SOU
on for 4 hours if the last hour is a repeat of
the first. Until CNN reinvents itself and sends
out strong signals to the public what they
stand for it is destined to become number
4.I have been tracking this CNN's troubles
with ratings started last years. For nearly
6 months CNN has been in a downturn,
with the exception of the presidential
election and inauguration.

Anonymous said...

The Daily Show summed up CNN the best.
It's like throwing stuff at a wall and hoping
it sticks.I am wondering if the experiment
of the online polling means something is
in the works towards some type of social
network.

Anonymous said...

I was just on TV by the Numbers.
Anon 9:47, you might be right.
CNN is a sinking ship.It seems like
trouble is ahead for CNN for the 5,
6,7,8 and 9pm hours. Hardball is
starting to have more viewers than
Lou Dobbs. Even the Ed Show is doing
better against The Sit Room. Funny thing
is Roland Martin is starting to get more
viewers than Lou Dobbs. But his demos
are lousy. The current lineup can not
continue.