Ratings Rivalry: CNN And MSNBC’s Dueling May Reports

MSNBC:

NEW YORK – June 2, 2010 – MSNBC continues to out-draw CNN in primetime, finishing May with 42 percent more viewers in weekday primetime, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. This is the fourth consecutive month MSNBC has out-rated CNN in primetime among both Adults 25-54 and total viewers. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “The Ed Show,” “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” all out-rated CNN in May. Following are MSNBC ratings highlights:

* MSNBC beat CNN in primetime (M-Su, 8-11 p.m.) in May by 36 percent in A25-54 (231,000 vs. 170,000) and by 26 percent in P2+ (747,000 vs. 595,000). This is the fourth month in a row that MSNBC has outrated CNN in primetime among both P2+ and A25-54. MSNBC also beat CNN in weekday primetime by 34 percent among A25-54 (231,000 vs. 173,000) and by 42 percent in P2+ (862,000 vs. 607,000). This is the 3rd time in four months that CNN has fallen to fourth place in weekday primetime. MSNBC also beat CNN in sales prime (M-Su, 7 p.m.- 2 a.m.) by 27 percent in A25-54 and 19 percent in total viewers.
* “Morning Joe” drew more viewers than CNN’s “American Morning” for the third consecutive month (406,000 vs. 353,000).
* “The Ed Show” drew more viewers than CNN at 6 p.m. for the third consecutive month (632,000 vs. 532,000). “The Ed Show” is up more than any other cable news show among A25-54, growing 28 percent versus May 2009 (160,000 vs. 125,000), and is up 24 percent among P2+ (632,000 vs. 508,000).
* “Hardball with Chris Matthews” at 7 p.m. beat CNN’s “John King USA” by ten percent in A25-54 (171,000 vs. 156,000) and by 41 percent in P2+ (651,000 vs. 463,000). “John King USA” is down 30 percent versus “Lou Dobbs Tonight” in that time period in May 2009.
* “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” beat CNN’s “Campbell Brown” for the 27th consecutive month among both total viewers and A25-54. “Countdown” outrated “Campbell Brown” by 70 percent in A25-54 (250,000 vs. 147,000) and by a huge 112 percent in total viewers (1,031,000 vs. 486,000). The repeat of “Countdown” at 10 p.m. ET tied CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” and ranked #2 for the third month in a row among A25-54 (206,000 vs. 206,000).
* “The Rachel Maddow Show” beat CNN’s “Larry King Live” for the fourth month in a row among both total viewers and A25-54, out-drawing King by 48 percent among A25-54 (245,000 vs. 165,000) and by 47 percent among A25-54 (962,000 vs. 653,000). “Maddow” is up seven percent in total viewers versus May 2009 (962,000 vs. 895,000) and is even in A25-54.
* MSNBC was #1 among the news networks in weekend sales prime (7 p.m.-2 a.m.) among A25-54 for the 2nd month in a row.

CNN:

CNN

In May, CNN was the only cable news network to grow in M-F primetime vs. last month in the key demo adults 25-54. In M-F primetime, CNN grew +12%, while FNC declined -8% and MSNBC lost -9% of its audience. In total day, CNN increased +21%, FNC was down -1% and MSNBC was up +2% vs. April. John King USA and the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer (5p) grew an impressive +43% compared to last month. May represents John King USA’s best full month since launch.

CNN also topped MSNBC in total day by +14% among total viewers (446k vs. 390k) and by +13% the key demo adults 25-54 (149k vs. 132k). During the daytime (M-F 9am-5pm) in head-to-head comparisons with MSNBC’s non-opinion news programming – CNN posted a +74% advantage in total viewers (506k vs. 291k) and more than doubled MSNBC with a +111% advantage among 25-54 viewers (152k vs. 72k). MSNBC placed fourth or fifth every hour of the day in the demo 25-54, except at 4p where they placed third behind Rick’s List. In May, both hours of Rick’s List (3p and 4p) had their best full month to date among P25-54 since the show’s launch in late January.

The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is up year-over-year in the key demo adults 25-54 at both 5p and 6p. At 5p, the Situation Room grew its audience by +16% in the demo compared to a year ago, topping Hardball in both total viewers (603k vs. 550k) and in the key demo adults 25-54 (176k vs. 130k). The program also rose +4% and topped The Ed Show in 25-54 at 6p.

In addition, CNN’s two flagship Sunday shows, State of the Union with Candy Crowley and GPS Fareed Zakaria grew double-digits compared to a year ago. At 9a, State of the Union increased +22% in the key demo 25-54, while FNC was up only +1% and MSNBC dropped -29%. Zakaria at 10a rose +20% in the demo, FNC increased +1% and MSNBC’s audience fell -21%.

HLN

HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade continues to roll over MSNBC’s Morning Joe among 25-54 viewers, leading by +46% in May, (174k vs 119k). May marks the 14th consecutive month that Morning Express with Robin Meade has topped MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Morning Express also posted the most growth of any cable news show in the morning in May, up +17% in total viewers and up +10% among 25-54 viewers.

The Joy Behar Show at 9p has double digit growth among both total viewers and the demo–the most total viewer growth of any cable news show in May–up +34% versus same time year ago (542k vs. 404k). It was also up +17% versus May 2009 (151k vs. 129k) among 25-54 viewers.

FNC AND MSNBC DECLINES

In May, all of Fox News’ primetime programs posted their worst 25-54 demo deliveries in a year or more. May represents The O’Reilly Factor’s worst performance since January 2009, Hannity’s lowest delivery to date since taking over the time period in January 2009 and On the Record’s lowest since May 2009. Fox Report with Shep Smith had its lowest demo delivery since December 2008.

FNC declines were also substantial when comparing May to the their recent peak at beginning of the year (January 2010), with the network’s audience falling off by 20-35% every hour of the day in the demo except “Fox and Friends,” which was down -8% and their 1-3p block which fell -15%. FNC’s M-F primetime audience dropped by -26% in total viewers (2.17m vs. 2.95m) and -30% in the demo (554k vs. 795k). Also on the decline was FNC’s Glenn Beck, which as lost -26% of its total viewer audience and -23% in the demo. Other double-digit demo losses included the 9a hour (down -22%), 10a (-21%), 11a (-27%), Noon (-28%), Studio B/Smith at 3p (-28%), Cavuto at 4p, (-29%), Bret Baier at 6p (-24%), Fox Report/Smith at 7p (-29%), O’Reilly at 8p (-30%), Hannity at 9p (-35%) and Greta at 10p (-29%).

In May, MSNBC also experienced demo declines compared to a year ago. In M-F primetime, MSNBC is down -16%, while Olbermann at 8p lost 24% of his audience. In addition, during the day (9a-5p) MSNBC is now averaging just a scant 72k viewers among adults 25-54.