MSNBC's Matthews Attacked On-Air: Video!

"A protester jumped a fence and ran onto a stage being used by MSNBC during a live broadcast tonight at New York's Herald Square. It happened at 7:38pm during a broadcast of 'Hardball.' Host Chris Matthews was on the set with Christie Todd Whitman, NBC correspondent David Gregory, Newsweek's Howard Fineman and commentator Sherry Annis were on the outdoor set in midtown Manhattan when the incident occured."

He "was immediately subdued by security working for the network. Matthews was in mid-toss to Campbell Brown and completed same. Brown threw back to him after her interview and all was well. Chris went to break saying 'Herald Square -- where ALL the action is.'"

> Exclusive Video: A spectator attacks Chris Matthews (MPEG)

Convention Ratings: Compared To '00, '03, '04

Here's a chart comparing ratings for the first night of the RNC in 2004 to other notable days:

	MSNBC	CNN	Fox
vs. RNC '00 night 1	+59%	+1%	+450%
vs. DNC '04 night 1	-28%	-39%	+127%
vs. same night '03	+243%	+46%	+174%
vs. Aug '04 prime	+88%	+30%	+110%

Monday Convention Ratings: FNC On Top

Between 8 and 11pm Monday night, FNC averaged 3,717,000 viewers, while CNN averaged 1,230,000 and MSNBC had 819,000.

The difference between the first night of the DNC and RNC is stark. On July 26, FNC averaged 1,633,000 viewers in primetime, while CNN had 2,010,000 and MSNBC averaged 1,149,000.

The two notable speeches resulted in viewer spikes for the cablers. FNC averaged 4,406,000 viewers during McCain's speech, and MSNBC averaged 1,077,000. (CNN did not break the speeches out.) During Rudy's speech, FNC averaged 4,818,000, and MSNBC had 1,062,000.

> 5:51pm: CNN's press release noted that they had "double and triple digit audience gains during first night of RNC."

August Ratings: Show By Show Data

Only on TVNewser: Fox News dominated the chart of top shows on cable news in August, with its primetime programs claiming the top five positions. Larry King came in 6th place, and Fox owned the rest of the top ten spots. MSNBC's Olympics coverage was strong, averaging a 0.7 at some points. MSNBC's Olympics Update After Hours experiments also performed well. Check out all the show data:

> PDF: Individual show ratings for August 2004

Soledad O'Brien Gives Birth To Twins

Bill Hemmer broke the news on American Morning today: "Soledad [O'Brien] and her husband Brad are now the proud mama and papa of two brand new baby boys born yesterday." Their names are Charlie and Jackson. "Good sized, too -- 7.1 ounces -- seven pound, two ounces for the second one. Charlie and Jackson doing well today, we are told. So, Soledad, if you're watching, congrats, and well done."

Ratings: #s Increase For Dobbs, Cooper, King

CNN has delivered the "highest monthly total day audience in 2004" this month, and has posted "significant year-over-year growth in total day and primetime," a press release says today. Their primetime audience in the 25-54 demo has increased by 18% versus last year and 27% versus last month. The network averaged 489,000 total viewers in total day. Blitzer, Dobbs, Cooper and King's shows posted "double-digit audience gains." CNN highlighted the following individual show data:
Persons 2+:

Show	Aug. 04	Aug. 03	%
Wolf Blitzer Reports	622,000	556,000	12%
Lou Dobbs Tonight	544,000	441,000	23%
Anderson Cooper 360	547,000	452,000	21%
Larry King Live	1,350,000	1,144,000	18%

Persons 25-54 (demo):

Show	Aug. 04	Aug. 03	%
Wolf Blitzer Reports	139,000	127,000	9%
Lou Dobbs Tonight	172,000	130,000	32%
Anderson Cooper 360	183,000	174,000	5%
Larry King Live	336,000	254,000	32%

Convention: Which Speakers Get Primetime Play?

USA Today's Mark Memmott sums up the network decision-making about airing some convention speeches but not others. A Virginia Tech communications professor suggests that the networks could have "said to the parties 'here are the times we're going to cover your conventions' and let the parties decide who the speakers would be at those times."

Ratings: CNBC All Scratched Up Friday

Only on TVNewser: CNBC had a rough time on Friday, Nielsen data demonstrates. The overnight ratings are full of hash marks, aka scratches. (A "scratch" is below the Nielsen minimum reporting standards.) "This was a record day as far as scratches for rating, viewers and the 25-54 demo," a cable news source says.

> Excel chart: CNBC's Friday ratings, hour-by-hour

Convention Ticker: Rocca, Matthews & More

> Oh goody! Daily Show correspondent Mo Rocca showed up on CNN at midnight, on Larry King Live part two. (Reporters from BET, MTV and Univision also joined Larry.)

> ABC's Nightline scored an exclusive interview with John Edwards last night, followed by a response from Dan Bartlett.

> Chris Matthews interviewed his brother Jim, a GOP delegate from Pennsylvania, on MSNBC last night, Gail Shister notes (via NewsBlues)

> CNN.com offers a "day in the life" of Kelly Wallace.

> An e-mailer notices double audio on CNN's RNC coverage: "Whenever there's a guest in the booth with the anchor, I'm hearing audio doubling up, as if there was a slightly different audio path for the different mics or as if there was studio monitors turned up in the booth. Strange."

Convention: Notes From The CNN Diner

> Newsday notes that "waiters were trained to keep down the clatter of dishes during taping sessions."

> National Journal notes the diner's convention viewing party was "all about the food -- including convo-themed cocktails and foot-high slices of chocolate cake. And did we mention there are no tabs at this diner? Thanks CNN!"

"To prep the diner, CNN took over and added 40 feet of neon inside and outside [and] installed 11 flat-screen TVs," Multichannel News reports...

> But NYDN's David Bianculli wasn't impressed by the Crossfire episode that aired from the diner yesterday, though: He calls it a "wholly useless piece of TV that redefined shrill and came close to redefining boring."

> Christian Science Monitor calls it a "VIP/media lounge cum TV-show set:" "Coming soon: the Fox News Jazz Club and Shooting Pool With the News on MSNBC."

Convention: Bush Should Tell Networks To Wait

Quoting The Hollywood Reporter: "This is what President Bush should do early on in his speech Thursday: Tell the networks not to shortchange him" by rushing to get off the air at 11pm, Ray Richmond opines. "Broadcasters wouldn't dare oppose a sitting president who makes such a direct request. If they did, then we would conclusively know just how far news has fallen from the broadcast networks' radar screen."

Starving Pack Of Press Takes On New Meaning

"Conventions are like a sunless summer camp for journalists, who, like hyper pre-teens, get cranky if they can't eat quickly and conveniently," National Journal blogs. The restaurant set up inside the main press area next to the convention hall ran out of food by lunch today. "No chicken. No salads. No fruit cups. No sandwiches. Just hot dogs. Dozens and dozens of hot dogs. One has to wonder how the folks in charge underestimated the appetites of journalists on an expense account -- a ravenous bunch if ever there was one."

GOP Organizers Hammer Home Message, While TV Producers Strive To Avoid It

Talk about your obvious statements: The GOP convention hall "has been designed, in part, so that the dozens of television cameras lining it will pick up the message of the day on signs strategically placed along the perimeter of the floor," the New York Times says. Which reveals the dueling goals of the TV directors and convention producers:

CNN's David Bohrman "said he was trying to select shots that did not include the president's campaign slogans, though he said it was sometimes unavoidable," Jim Rutenberg says. Bohrman notes that "we still control where the cameras point."

Bush adviser Mark McKinnon says he understand's the media's role as a "filter," but: "It's our view once every four years the parties and the nominees ought to be able to say what they want to without that message being translated by somebody else."

MSNBC, Knight Ridder Partner For Prez Polling

"Knight Ridder and MSNBC will conduct a series of polls this fall in key battleground states that could decide the 2004 presidential election," this KR story says. Rick Kaplan says the polls will provide viewers with "tremendous insight into the opinions of undecided voters in the key swing states."The polls will be conducted by Mason-Dixon...

Convention Ticker: McCain/Moore, 'Dayside,' Wacky Hats

> Howard Kurtz: "I think we've got to break out of this box of only covering what the campaigns are talking about."

> "John McCain put Michael Moore back into the Presidential Campaign," Keith Olbermann concludes.

> Linda Vester's 'Dayside' will be audience-less all week: "Too many of our crew members were needed at the convention," she blogs...

> National Journal's tips for getting on convention TV: Wear a wacky hat, fit the stereotype, don't get caught napping, and don't try too hard...