The devastating tornado that swept through a Oklahoma City suburb quickly drew national attention, as cable news ratings from yesterday clearly show. You can see the full numbers here, but below are some notable mentions.

The tornado was picked up on cable news during the 4 PM hour, with the severity of the storm becoming apparent during the 5 PM hour.

FNC: 1.691M total viewers, 186,000 A25-54 at 4 PM, 2.398M viewers, 364,000 A25-54 at 5 PM
CNN: 645,000 total viewers, 167,000 A25-54 at 4 PM, 1.022M viewers, 321,000 A25-54 at 5 PM
The Weather Channel: 925,000 total viewers, 302,000 A25-54 at 4 PM, 1.273M viewers, 464,000 A25-54 at 5 PM
MSNBC: 433,000 total viewers, 81,000 A25-54 at 4 PM, 709,000 viewers, 135,000 A25-54 at 5 PM

In primetime (8-11PM), with special schedules, the numbers were even higher, as people who came home from work tuned in to see what happened:
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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 352 | MSNBC: 153 | CNN: 343 | HLN: 206

• Primetime: FNC: 632 | MSNBC: 337 | CNN: 790 | HLN: 229

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• ESPN has laid off hundreds of employees, according to Those Guys Have All The Fun author Jim Miller and Deadspin. ESPN has had to trim costs in order to make margins as it spends big on sports rights and a big new “SportsCenter” studio.

• FBN’s Charlie Gasparino is profiled by the Journal News and Downtown magazine.

• Microsoft unveiled its new XBox, dubbed “XBox One” today, and TV is a primary component of it. Users wil be able to change channels using their voice, and “pin” their favorite shows to a dashboard. There will also be a “trending” feature to see what other users are watching.

25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 178 | MSNBC: 136 | CNN: 118 | HLN: 148

• Primetime: FNC: 186 | MSNBC: 174 | CNN: 175 | HLN: 154

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 172 | MSNBC: 129 | CNN: 127 | HLN: 138

• Primetime: FNC: 162 | MSNBC: 171 | CNN: 116 | HLN: 124

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Adam May will start as a national correspondent at Al Jazeera America in June. He will be based in Al Jazeera America’s Washington, D.C. bureau.

May comes from WJZ in Baltimore, where he has been an anchor and reporter for 10 years. TVSpy has more on his career in local news.

“It was a tough decision, especially saying goodbye to our viewers who have been so loyal over the last few years,” May told David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun. “I now consider many of them friends, and I hope when they still see me walking around Baltimore, they’ll come up and say hi.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists is adding its voice of concern about the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into Fox News correspondent James Rosen.

“U.S. government efforts to prosecute leakers by obtaining information from journalists has a chilling effect domestically and sends a terrible message to journalists around the world who are fighting to resist government intrusion,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

On Sunday, the Washington Post reported on an affidavit that described Rosen as “an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator” in a 2010 DOJ investigation into the leak of classified information regarding North Korea. The Justice Department tracked Rosen’s State Department comings and goings through his security badge and also tapped into his personal email and phone records.

Fox News told TVNewser yesterday they will “unequivocally defend [Rosen's] right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press.”

The broadcast networks are planning to give their news organizations extra space tonight to update viewers on the aftermath of the devastating tornado that ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City. In addition to expanded evening newscasts, NBC and ABC will have dedicated programming to coverage of the devastation and recovery.

NBC: NBC News will have a special from 8-9 PM live from Oklahoma, anchored by Brian Williams. Lester Holt, Ann Curry, Harry Smith and Kate Snow will be among the contributors. “NBC Nightly News” will also offer an hour-long newscast to affiliates this evening.

CBS: CBS News will not have a primetime special, however Scott Pelley will host a special edition of the “CBS Evening News” from 6:30 PM until 8 PM, offered to affiliates.

ABC: ABC News will be offering a one hour edition of “ABC World News” to affiliates. Diane Sawyer will be in New York, with David Muir in Moore. In addition at 12:35 AM “Nightline” will be special edition dedicated to Oklahoma.

Also: Muir, Ginger Zee and Mike Boettcher will reportfrom Oklahoma this afternoon on “Katie.”

The “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” was the only evening newscast to grow compared to the same week last year. The 3rd ranked show was up +5% in total viewers cutting the gap with #2 “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” nearly in half. Last year the viewership gap between the two shows was 1.65 million. Last week it was 881,000.

Sawyer’s newscast was down -7% in viewers and down -9% in the demo. No. 1 “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” was flat in viewership and down -6% in the demo. Pelley’s broadcast, too, was down in the demo, losing 2% of its audience compared to last year.

Numbers for the week of May 13, 2013:

Photo via

The Department of Justice says that it is unlikely to bring charges against Fox News correspondent James Rosen, who had his email searched by the FBI in relation to a leak investigation.

A warrant was executed against Rosen’s email, accusing him of being a “co-conspirator” to the individual accused of leaking information related to North Korea.

The implication that Rosen was complicit, as well as the apparent breach of a free press, drew a sharply worded critique from Fox News yesterday.

The Washington Post has more on the DOJ decision:

In response to questions about how Rosen was characterized in the affidavit, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday: “Saying that there is probable cause to believe that someone has committed a crime and charging the person with that crime are two different things.”

“No reporter has been charged in this case,” the statement added. “And, at this time we do not anticipate bringing additional charges against anyone.”