We’re #2!: MSNBC and CNN Fight For Silver in Dueling Ads

This week both CNN and MSNBC put out ads touting victories in the ratings. And by victories, I mean, finishing 2nd in cable news, since Fox News is far and away the overall leader. Yes, you’ll see CNN claim a lot of #1 spots in their ad. Let’s get to that. For now, we’ll take a look at each ad, and try to decipher the fine print.

Here’s MSNBC’s ad:

The approach to this ad is clearly to display the big stars at the network. Also, there’s no attempt to push a storyline about actually being in 1st place in cable news. No, the large headline boasts simply a win over CNN. One glaring problem: Hardball host Chris Matthews hosts a live show at 5pmET and the repeat airs at 7pmET, and neither hour is counted toward prime time. Instead, MSNBC’s prime time consists of just its top two: Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. With Matthews’ top placement, it implies he’s involved in the victory, when he isn’t.

Let’s see what CNN says:

CNN has taken, essentially, the opposite approach from MSNBC. First of all, it’s all words, no pictures. The headline touts delivering “more news to more people in more ways,” and the rest of the ad expands on the premise. Also, unlike MSNBC’s resignation, it is a battle for 2nd; CNN attempts to explain how it is actually #1 in many, many other categories. How did it come to this conclusion? Well let’s save that for the fine print.

First, here’s MSNBC’s fine print:

Pretty self-explanatory. The only point to note is the fine print mentions the statistic is based on “A25-54,” the demo rating for viewers 25-54-years-old.

How about CNN:

Okay. There’s a lot here but let’s break it down. The final seven “#1″s in CNN’s ad is based on every line beyond the first in the fine print. These numbers would be hard to argue, although msnbc.com consistently claims Web #1’s based on other metrics. The world of Web stats is the Wild West right now. But we’ll let that slide. CNN’s claims of #1 on TV and Web is based in part on a new drama-causing metric called Fusion. It’s very new, and not generally accepted as an accurate representation of a network’s viewership. Then there’s another metric called “reach,” which CNN is using to compute its viewership number. This too, is a bit of a “reach.” The metric is computed by looking at a network’s cumulative audience, at any time (although the fine print in the CNN ad specifies the viewer has to watch for six minutes at least) – something both Fox News and MSNBC claim their advertisers don’t pay attention to.

Conclusion: It’s easy to say MSNBC is #2 and to leave it there, as CNN attempts in any way possible to claim victories. Instead lets do this: we’ll give CNN #1 for the Web, which is important these days. Fox News gets all the #1’s on TV, but MSNBC is #2 in the A25-54 demographic – key for advertisers. CNN gets to continue fighting for #2 in Total Viewers with MSNBC (although not cited in the ad, MSNBC did win in Total Viewers for Q2). So really, everyone’s a winner. Sort of.

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