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Debate Gives CNN Ratings Win; Erin Burnett Sees Big Boost, But Still Comes In Third

By Nando Di FinoOct 19th, 2011, 5:16 pm

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Last night’s Republican debate gave CNN a ratings win last night, with a very impressive 5.5 million people tuning in. The big numbers translated to increased viewers across CNN’s entire evening slate of programs, but the build-up to the debate didn’t garner Erin Burnett a win as the lead-in — she finished third in the 7 p.m. time-slot, behind Shepard Smith and Chris Matthews. The debate did, however, almost double Burnett’s numbers from Monday night, bringing her from approximately 330,000 viewers to 636,000. Will the extra exposure translate into more viewers sticking around permanently? Find out tomorrow.

Other nuggets:

  • The 5.5 Million total viewers is the second most viewers for a GOP debate thus far, falling just short of 6.1 million viewers who tuned into the Fox News debate aired on September 22nd.
  • Shepard Smith’s numbers at 7 p.m. actually went up from Monday, in spite of the debate taking place on CNN and most viewers planning on abandoning him for CNN at 8. O’Reilly and Hannity saw dips as the debate’s direct competition, but Van Susteren reeled viewers back in at 10 p.m., after the debate had finished.
  • Not everyone saw viewer losses against the debate. Nancy Grace and Dr. Drew, programmed against the debate at 8 p.m., actually saw a jump in eyeballs from Monday to Tuesday. The debate siphoned viewers away from the other networks, but Grace and Pinsky seemed to have been successful counter-programming.
  • Order was restored at 11 p.m., when a repeat of O’Reilly downed a repeat of the debate.

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

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

    390

    		 Blitzer 

    155

    		 Matthews 

    171

    		 Special 

    88
    6 pm Baier 

    379

    		 King, USA 

    73

    		 Sharpton 

    136

    		 Prime 

    102
    7 pm Shep 

    563

    		 Burnett 

    157

    		 Matthews 

    177

    		 Issues 

    114
    8 pm O’Reilly 

    548

    		 GOP Debate
     

    1.660

    		 O’Donnell 

    158

    		 Grace 

    163
    9 pm Hannity 

    437

    		 GOP Debate (2)
     

    1.536

    		 Maddow 

    200

    		 DrDrew 

    94
    10 pm Van Susteren 

    515

    		 Cooper 

    735

    		 Schultz 

    176

    		 Behar 

    89
    11 pm O’Reilly 

    533

    		 GOP Debate
     

    439

    		 O’Donnell 

    102

    		 Showbiz 

    67
    TOTAL DAY 337 342 97 105
    PRIME TIME 500 1.347 172 112
    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 

    1,671

    		 Blitzer 

    622

    		 Matthews 

    729

    		 Special 

    317
    6 pm Baier 

    1,924

    		 King, USA 

    412

    		 Sharpton 

    670

    		 Prime 

    329
    7 pm Shep 

    2.031

    		 Burnett 

    636

    		 Matthews 

    791

    		 Issues 

    395
    8 pm O’Reilly 

    2.534

    		 GOP Debate
     

    5.495

    		 O’Donnell 

    704

    		 Grace 

    527
    9 pm Hannity 

    1.632

    		 GOP Debate (2)
     

    5.082

    		 Maddow 

    790

    		 DrDrew 

    360
    10 pm Greta 

    1,991

    		 Cooper 

    2.244

    		 Ed Show 

    1.009

    		 Behar 

    443
    11 pm O’Reilly 

    1,503

    		 GOP Debate
     

    1.115

    		 O’Donnell 

    527

    		 Showbiz 

    296
    TOTAL DAY 1,341 1.093 495 278
    PRIME TIME 2,054 4.396 834 435
    Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data

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