1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser
Advertisement

Tuesday Ratings: The Last Word Up

» 33 comments

Even with the volatility of the numbers, there are always certain sureties every night in the ratings: Bill O’Reilly will win the night, Fox News will have seven of the top seven shows, and Rachel Maddow will usually be in the top three of the non-FNC shows. On Tuesday night, O’Reilly captured 742,000 viewers in the 25-54 year-old demographic, but Fox didn’t grab the entire Top Seven; Maddow, who still had the highest non-FNC show, grabbed 351,000 demo viewers, which put her in fifth place on the night. She topped Greta Van Susteren, The Five, and Shepard Smith.

Still, even with Maddow cracking the Top Seven, the bigger surprise Tuesday night was probably Lawrence O’Donnell, who pulled in a relatively strong 252,000 demo viewers. And not only did he capture a larger-than-normal audience, he pulled closer to Van Susteren in the ratings. Maddow is still far behind Hannity in the demo at 9 p.m., but O’Donnell — who had his show moved from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in October — now seems like the best threat to overtake a FNC show in the time slot (which, to be realistic, is a goal that seems entirely impossible for any show — O’Donnell’s just looks like the most likely). Van Susteren’s 332,000 viewers beat O’Donnell’s audience by just 70,000. There will have to be a perfect confluence of events for O’Donnell to overtake Van Susteren — continued strong lead-in performance from Maddow combined with further erratic ratings results from Van Susteren, for starters — but if there will ever be a crack in FNC’s impenetrable ratings armor, this is probably where it will occur.

Other nuggets from Tuesday night:

  • Nancy Grace had a strong night, with 219,000 demo viewers, which made her the third-strongest non-FNC show on the slate.
  • On a relatively low night for FNC, O’Reilly’s 742,000 demo viewers look even stronger than usual.
  • Just to follow-up on a weekend note that looks more fun in a new context, Mike Huckabee‘s GOP Presidential Forum on Saturday drew 408,000 demo viewers and 2.2 million overall viewers. As a reference point, the CBS Presidential debate, on a broadcast network, pulled just 5.3 million total viewers last month. It also aired on a Saturday.
  • Tuesday night’s full ratings:

    TV NEWS RATINGS: 25-54 DEMOGRAPHIC (L +SD)
    Fox News CNN MSNBC CNN Headline News
    5 pm The5 

    312

    Blitzer 

    175

    Matthews 

    169

    Special 

    88

    6 pm Baier 

    388

    King, USA 

    113

    Sharpton 

    165

    Prime 

    140

    7 pm Shep 

    315

    Burnett 

    145

    Matthews 

    195

    Issues 

    133

    8 pm O’Reilly 

    742

    Cooper 

    139

    Schultz 

    177

    Grace 

    219

    9 pm Hannity 

    480

    Piers 

    103

    Maddow 

    351

    Dr. Drew 

    121

    10 pm Van Susteren 

    332

    Cooper 

    173

    O’Donnell 

    252

    Behar 

    85

    11 pm O’Reilly 

    442

    Burnett 

    114

    Schultz 

    140

    Showbiz 

    73

    TOTAL DAY 310 130 146 90
    PRIME TIME 518 139 260 138
    Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.
    TV NEWS RATINGS: TOTAL VIEWERS (L +SD)
    Fox News CNN MSNBC CNN Headline News
    5 pm The5 

    1,550

    Blitzer 

    699

    Matthews 

    769

    Special 

    355

    6 pm Baier 

    1,990

    King, USA 

    444

    Sharpton 

    760

    Prime
    418
    7 pm Shep 

    1,745

    Burnett 

    438

    Matthews 

    844

    Issues 

    622

    8 pm O’Reilly 

    3,296

    Cooper 

    499

    Schultz 

    884

    Grace 

    622

    9 pm Hannity 

    2,188

    Piers 

    720

    Maddow 

    1,180

    DrDrew 

    331

    10 pm Greta 

    1,672

    Cooper 

    625

    O’Donnell
    956
    Behar 

    333

    11 pm O’Reilly 

    1,190

    Burnett 

    358

    Schultz
    548
    Showbiz 

    274

    TOTAL DAY 1,378 486 561 257
    PRIME TIME 2,393 616 1,006 420
    Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data

    (Image credit: Damian Dovarganes)

    Follow us on Twitter.

    Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

    Email Twitter Facebook Digg Reddit Stumble Upon Yahoo Buzz LinkedIn Tumblr Delicious
    • Anonymous

      Larry has been exposing Republicans as the batsh*t crazy monsters they are.  Check it out.

    • Anonymous

      Maddow beat several FN programs. Not bad.

    • William Howell

      mediaite bitches hoping against hope that their lap dog socialist/communist network will get some kind of traction in the ratings. Its easily accomplished just do what Trump told old bald head chuck todd, go Conservative.

    • William Howell

      That lesbian cow couldn’t fix an old granny womern!!!

    • 12voltman1

      Nice! You don’t agree with someone political then you attack their sexuality.

    • William Howell

      looks you probably couldn’t either. And besides I’m not attacking, it was just a joke. Did it make you chuckle just for a moment.

    • AMP2020

      Ugh. So many partisan trolls on this site.

    • AMP2020

      My problem with her format is the quantity of writing. Which, hilariously, when I tuned in the other day, she said is a joke in the office: how LONG and how MUCH she writes. When she does these 10 minute soliloquies, I’m thinking she desperately needs a precis writing course. 

      I also don’t really like her snide liberal attitude. At the end of the day, she could have been a straight-up journalist but instead can’t resist doing what is wrong in news these days.

    • Anonymous

      I would not be sad if Mediaite disabled comments, every comment is by some partisan hack who thinks they’re funny or clever

    • Anonymous

      Maddow got 1,180,000 potential voters to watch. O’Reilly got 3,296,000 voters to watch. Fox wins.
      All the Fox shows got more voters to watch. Demo means NOTHING. Demo viewers don’t get to vote more than total viewers.
      If you want influence you need viewers. Maddow is top of the losers on MSNBC.
      351,000 demo viewers doesn’t win elections.

    • Anonymous

      Nando, you need to get over this demo nonsense. These cable news channels are about influencing VOTERS. The amount of people watching MSNBC is meaningless in the upcoming election. Obama will be glad to know they are getting less than 400,000 in the demo.
      Tell me what will MSNBC gain if they get closer in the demo but never win?
      They can’t come close in total viewers.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

      MSNBC screwed up swapping his time slot with Ed. But not surprising from a network that ran off its highest-rated host. 

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

      Median age of a BillO viewer has been reported as 72 – that mean for every person 25 watching his show, he has one who is 117. His audience consists mostly of scared nursing home residents.

    • http://twitter.com/artislifeisart Nora

      You’re what’s called “a homophobe” which is sometimes confused with a “deep in the closet gay”.

    • http://twitter.com/artislifeisart Nora

      If you look at it this way, the other networks combined do better than the RW propaganda channel known as Fox. So there are more total viewers looking for semi-normal news.

    • Anonymous

      It has been reported that you are stupid. When you get a brain make another comment.

    • Anonymous

      The other CABLE news networks don’t have the total viewers of Fox even if you combine them. You have no idea what you are talking about. Go back to playing in the street.

    • Anonymous

      That’s why her ratings are so good compared to CNN programs. The more biased you are the better the ratings.

    • Anonymous

      Union Eddie is inching ever so close to TeeVee Neverland, Current.

    • Anonymous

      son, the hospital called: your bed is ready.

      BTW, Larry is an admitted Socialist. case closed.

    • Anonymous

      Son, in total viewers, she beat none. Not even an O’Reilly repeat!

      LOL

    • Anonymous

      Real question is, why isn’t CNN moving in an HLN host into the 9pm slot? Clearly, it’s time to move over one of their popular HLN hosts for a tryout since the Piers failure seems obvious.  HLN is known for its legal coverage, and viewers simply forget it exists.   

    • Anonymous

      Demo dictates how much you charge for your ads, which drives your revenue, and thus profits.

      Ratings are EVERYTHING, and should be.   Now, the demo should evolve since in marketing, we’re seeing huge trend changes with who buys what, so their demo system seems outdated and way too simplistic.   I’ll give you that.  

    • Anonymous

      No one cares about the total viewers. It’s the key demo that matters. O’Reilly and Hannity have a huge amount of irrelevant people watching their shows. Only viewers who’re in their 20′s, 30′s, 40′s or early 50′s matter. If you’re less than 18 or older than 55, you’re irrelevant to advertisers. You’re like Rick Santorum in the GOP debates.

    • Anonymous

      I have written about that in prior posts. You have to sustain the ratings in the demo not just jump up every now and then. Even when they jump up they never top Fox. The low number they have is not going to give them a higher ad rate.
      These shows are about influencing opinion, therefore the number of TOTAL viewers is the important total. No one watches MSNBC in the demo or total viewers. The nonsense they spout is seen by almost no one. Only sites like this give them give them any credibility. Walk down the street and start asking people if they ever heard of Ed Shultz, Maddow or O’Donnell. Don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer.

    • Anonymous

      Sure son, spin it that way. I’m sure all your friends sharing your mom’s basement believe that.

      And even in the cherished demo, she beat only 2 out of the 7 shows on FOX.

    • Anonymous

      Larry O is the King of the plantation at MSDNC! Eddy is the watch dog at the front gate of MSDNC. Maddog take care of all the help on the plantation. And the Morning Joe crew are servants on the OBAMA Canadian Bus tour around the country… MSDNC!!! AMABO 2012.

    • Anonymous

      Too much spin. 

      Saying that Maddow beat Van Susteren when they are on at different times is like saying Maryland beat Duke because Maryland scored more points than Duke while playing Podunk State while Duke scored fewer points in beating Virginia.

      All the spin does not change the fact that Fox wins in all time slots.  As for key demo, cable skews older anyway, and more of the older demos vote than the number of actual voters found in the lower end of the key demo. 

      Also most spots (commercials) on cable skew older anyway just as the spots on the network evening news shows are aimed at much older viewers.

    • William Howell

      luckily for me that confusion does not apply. Because I’m a red blooded American hero heterosexual man!!!

    • Anonymous

      true

    • http://twitter.com/artislifeisart Nora

      Do the math, moron.

    • Anonymous

      O’Donnel is a typical lefty. Always looks like someone just shoved a corn cob up his kiester. Come to think of it, that seems to be the trademark of all the grads of Karl Marx University. Just look at Sargent Shultz.

    • Anonymous

      Personnaly, I love it when she stands in front of an edifce, Hoover Dam, whining in typical liberal fasion that we aren’t building things like that anymore. She conviently forgets that libs exactly like her have created so many laws, regulations and special interest bug, lizards, guppys etc etc that you couldn’t get the permits required to build that dam in a 100 yrs and you would spend 100 billion in lawyer fees to even try. Nice job Madow, you and your ilk have created the greatest job boom ever. Unfourtunatly, if your not a lawyer you need not apply

    © 2012 Mediaite, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
    Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram