Cable news ratings, March 25, 2011:
•Ratings tend to falter on Fridays, and Fox’s Sean Hannity had an unusually low-rated show, with just 388,000 viewers 25-54 (Hannity rarely falls below half a million viewers in the demo, and often reaches ratings hundreds of thousands higher, in territory usually owned only by Fox’s Bill O’Reilly). The lower-than-normal showing allowed MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow to get very close to an upset, with 362,000 viewers. CNN’s Piers Morgan was third, with 220,000.
Among total viewers, the 9 p.m. hour was no contest, with Hannity far out in front with 1,766,000 viewers, compared to Maddow’s 941,000 and Morgan’s 657,000.
•One of MSNBC’s other top stars, Lawrence O’Donnell, meanwhile, had a tough night, finishing third behind CNN’s Eliot Spitzer-led In the Arena. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly won the hour, with 578,000 in the demo, followed by Arena with 256,000. O’Donnell had 220,000.
Here’s the full scoreboard:
| TV NEWS RATINGS: 25-54 DEMOGRAPHIC (L +SD) | ||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| 5 pm | Beck
530 |
Blitzer
217 |
Matthews
120 |
Showbiz
69 |
| 6 pm | Baier
438 |
Blitzer
222 |
Live
114 |
Prime
89 |
| 7 pm | Shep
358 |
King, USA
203 |
Matthews
168 |
Issues
100 |
| 8 pm | O’Reilly
578 |
InTheArena
256 |
O’Donnell
220 |
Grace
129 |
| 9 pm | Hannity
388 |
Morgan
220 |
Maddow
362 |
Missing
45 |
| 10 pm | Stossel
392 |
Cooper
216 |
Special
154 |
Behar
50 |
| 11 pm | O’Reilly
382 |
Cooper
189 |
Lockup
213 |
Showbiz
35 |
| TOTAL DAY | 344 | 195 | 135 | 86 |
| PRIME TIME | 453 | 231 | 245 | 118 |
| Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data. | ||||
| TV NEWS RATINGS: TOTAL VIEWERS (L +SD) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
| 5 pm | Beck
1959 |
Blitzer
806 |
Matthews
520 |
Showbiz
180 |
| 6 pm | Baier
1900 |
Blitzer
741 |
Live
490 |
Prime
195 |
| 7 pm | Shep
1517 |
King, USA
628 |
Matthews
571 |
Issues
268 |
| 8 pm | O’Reilly
2639 |
InTheArena
615 |
O’Donnell
809 |
Grace
446 |
| 9 pm | Hannity
1766 |
Morgan
657 |
Maddow
941 |
Missing
254 |
| 10 pm | Stossel
1585 |
Cooper
783 |
Special
374 |
Behar
224 |
| 11 pm | O’Reilly
1104 |
Cooper
549 |
Lockup
401 |
Showbiz
160 |
| TOTAL DAY | 1300 | 589 | 437 | 244 |
| PRIME TIME | 1997 | 685 | 708 | 300 |
| Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data | ||||
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