Aaron-Anderson: The Ratings

Gail Shister explains the numbers behind CNN’s impending decision to change the primetime lineup.

“Ratings-wise, all the numbers are on” Anderson Cooper‘s side, she says. “Clearly, he’s got the Big Mo.”

In October, the hours that Cooper anchored — 7, 10 and 11 p.m. — showed major increases from a year earlier, particularly among the 25- to 54-year-olds advertisers covet.

Let us count the ways.

At 7 p.m., Cooper’s 360 averaged 811,000 total viewers, up 36 percent over October ’04, says Nielsen Media Research. (Still, he was far behind Fox News Channel’s Shepard Smith.)

At 10 p.m., the Cooper-Brown NewsNight clocked 813,000 viewers — a 4 percent spike compared with Brown’s solo performance a year before. And at 11, NewsNight averaged 570,000 viewers, up 27 percent.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.