Ratings Races

Some ratings notes on this Friday before a three-day weekend:

Perhaps not surprisingly, Brit Hume‘s exclusive with Dick Cheney Wednesday night brought him the highest ratings of any show on cable news that day. His 6 p.m. show was watched by over 2.1 million people (513,000 in the 25-54 demo) and even he edged Bill O’Reilly by a thousand.

Also, a potentially troubling development for CNN: MSNBC’s Hardball and Keith Olbermann have beaten the 7 p.m. hour of “The Situation Room” and the 8 p.m. hour of Paula Zahn for the last eight days in the 25-54 demographic, even as CNN has continued to win the overall viewers.

According to ABC, “Nightline” posted its highest average since its November 28th relaunch last week, and grew in the 25-54 demographic for the third consecutive week–averaging a 1.6 rating, an increase of 7 percent compared to the same week one year ago.

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