Thursday Ratings: Piers Bests Most Of His Peers

Nando Di FinoDec 3rd, 2011, 10:38 am
 

Piers Morgan — to editorialize for just a moment — is one of our favorite cable news hosts. Maybe it’s the British accent; perhaps it’s our affinity for Celebrity Apprentice winners. But he hasn’t really, as Brian Stelter of the New York Times noted Thursday, caught on yet in the ratings.

Thursday night, however, Morgan performed better than any show on CNN in the 25-54 year old demo, attracting 222,000 viewers. His numbers also bested every cable news prime time show not on Fox News, on what turned out to be a relatively strong night for CNN, resulting in a second-place overall finish in prime time.

Some other nuggets from Thursday night:

  • It’s not entirely good news for Piers. Or anyone else. Every non-FNC cable news program was bested in the demo by FNC’s Red Eye, which airs at 3 a.m.
  • The highest-rated show on MSNBC Thursday night? The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell. He bested Rachel Maddow by just 2,000 demo viewers.
  • A minor surprise from FNC’s ratings was the third-place finish by Greta Van Susteren, who finished behind Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Her numbers usually have her in, or near, the bottom of the FNC stable.
  • Keeping the “surprise” theme going, Joy Behar ended up being the highest-rated show on HLN Thursday night, a spot usually occupied by Nancy Grace or Jane Velez-Mitchell.

    • Here are the complete cable news ratings for Thursday night:

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

    323

    		 Blitzer 

    127

    		 Matthews 

    133

    		 Special 

    38
    6 pm Baier 

    380

    		 King, USA 

    114

    		 Sharpton 

    136

    		 Prime 

    69
    7 pm Shep 

    398

    		 Burnett 

    109

    		 Matthews 

    177

    		 Issues 

    122
    8 pm O’Reilly 

    590

    		 Cooper 

    202

    		 Schultz 

    152

    		 Grace 

    112
    9 pm Hannity 

    566

    		 Piers 

    222

    		 Maddow 

    216

    		 Dr. Drew 

    126
    10 pm Van Susteren 

    421

    		 Cooper 

    218

    		 O’Donnell 

    218

    		 Behar 

    135
    11 pm O’Reilly 

    396

    		 Burnett 

    150

    		 Schultz 

    151

    		 Showbiz 

    84
    TOTAL DAY 320 128 118 86
    PRIME TIME 527 214 195 125
    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 

    1,569

    		 Blitzer 

    773

    		 Matthews 

    697

    		 Special 

    175
    6 pm Baier 

    1,965

    		 King, USA 

    547

    		 Sharpton 

    749

    		 Prime
    250
    7 pm Shep 

    1,884

    		 Burnett 

    495

    		 Matthews 

    807

    		 Issues 

    342
    8 pm O’Reilly 

    2,952

    		 Cooper 

    564

    		 Schultz 

    938

    		 Grace 

    451
    9 pm Hannity 

    2,290

    		 Piers 

    785

    		 Maddow 

    1,015

    		 DrDrew 

    346
    10 pm Greta 

    1,817

    		 Cooper 

    564

    		 O’Donnell
    971    		 Behar 

    384
    11 pm O’Reilly 

    1,193

    		 Burnett 

    378

    		 Schultz
    507    		 Showbiz 

    228
    TOTAL DAY 1,360 493 525 232
    PRIME TIME 2,356 652 980 389
    Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data
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