Ratings: Amid Major News, MSNBC’s New Primetime Lineup Drops To Third

On a week marked by a huge international story–and hefty NBC resources committed to telling it–MSNBC marked an unpleasant milestone, dropping to third place across primetime on February 1. In perhaps the most striking defeat for the network, Lawrence O’Donnell, who took over for the departed Keith Olbermann was soundly defeated by CNN’s Parker Spitzer, a show assumed by many to be such a poor performer as to be on the chopping block.

On Tuesday night, Parker Spitzer attracted 292,000 viewers 25-54, compared to O’Donnell’s 196,000.

CNN newcomer Piers Morgan, whose show Piers Morgan Tonight has had several ups and downs in its first two weeks, finished strongly ahead of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow (327,000 to 260,000). Morgan broke from single-interview format to cover the Egypt story live, and interviewed former British prime minister Tony Blair.

MSNBC’s Ed Show, which relocated to 10 p.m. in the new lineup, was nowhere near CNN’s AC 360. Cooper, who’s on assignment reporting

from Cairo, led with 344,000 to Ed Schultz‘s 180,000. Cooper has taken an all-in strategy on the Egypt story, immediately flying from New York last week and beginning live coverage over the weekend. Cooper has reported extensively on all CNN programs (and CNN International) and presumably driven viewers to his nightly show. AC360 was the network’s only show to move within striking distance of ratings leader Fox News, closing to within 39,000 viewers of timeslot winner Greta Van Susteren.

Here’s the full scoreboard:

TV NEWS RATINGS: 25-54 DEMOGRAPHIC (L +SD)
5 pm	Beck 634	Blitzer 317	Matthews 186	Showbiz 98
6 pm	Baier 532	Blitzer 301	Live 153	Prime 106
7 pm	Shep 570	King, USA 275	Matthews 190	Issues 150
8 pm	O’Reilly 831	ParkerSpitzer 292	O’Donnell 196	Grace 217
9 pm	Hannity 478	Morgan 327	Maddow 260	Missing 167
10 pm	Van Susteren 383	Cooper 344	Schultz 180	Behar 94
11 pm	O’Reilly 391	Cooper 245	O’Donnell 200	Showbiz 109
TOTAL DAY	377	218	136	138
PRIME TIME	564	321	212	155
Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.

TV NEWS RATINGS: TOTAL VIEWERS (L +SD)
5 pm	Beck 2180	Blitzer 845	Matthews 804	Showbiz 213
6 pm	Baier 2482	Blitzer 903	Live 640	Prime 241
7 pm	Shep 2088	King, USA 718	Matthews 702	Issues 415
8 pm	O’Reilly 3627	ParkerSpitzer 825	O’Donnell 948	Grace 688
9 pm	Hannity 2196	Morgan 922	Maddow 1017	Missing 531
10 pm	Van Susteren 1664	Cooper 759	Schultz 711	Behar 344
11 pm	O’Reilly 1205	Cooper 534	O’Donnell 492	Showbiz 302
TOTAL DAY	1512	622	532	312
PRIME TIME	2498	835	901	509
Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data