Wednesday Ratings: Notes From Around The Dial

> A cable source called MSNBC's #'s lousy "for a night with Hurricane Ivan and the Dan Rather controversy." The network's ratings were surprisingly low.

> Anderson Cooper crushed Chris Matthews on Wednesday night. 360 earned a .9 while Hardball had a .5. In the 25-54 demo, Cooper delivered 449,000 viewers, while Matthews had only 126,000.

> CNN beat FNC, MSNBC and the Weather Channel between 12am and 2am, as the hurricane made landfall. CNN averaged 1,770,000 viewers the first hour, and 1,320,000 the second hour. FNC had about 100,000 less viewers.

> FNC was the only network to stay competitive with the Weather Channel most hours during the day Wed.

Wednesday Ratings: Raw #'s In Primetime

FNC: Total day: 1,494,000 / Primetime: 3,178,000 / Hume: 1,997,000 / Shep: 2,152,000 / O'Reilly: 3,463,000 / H&C: 3,360,000 / Greta: 2,712,000

CNN: Total day: 819,000 / Primetime: 1,625,000 / Dobbs: 770,000 / Cooper: 971,000 / Zahn: 1,112,000 / King: 2,051,000 / Brown: 1,714,000

MSNBC: Total day: 508,000 / Primetime: 337,000 / Matthews: 494,000 / Olbermann: 385,000 / Norville: 515,000 / Scarborough: 429,000

Hurricane Ivan: Comments From E-Mailers

> "Rosey Edeh came on for "Early Today" and blew it off the bat. She said Pensacola was on the WESTERN edge of the storm. Uh, it's on the east side of the eye. She also tried to read some more copy, sounded confused, uneducated, and lost. She does not belong on TV. Brian, she is so unqualified to be on tv during a major weather event that it's absurd."

> "Crystal ball?? CNN's Chad Myers said 'Jeanne' will not hit the continental U.S. He said it will turn away from the U.S. in five days time. Recall, Hillary Andrews of The Weather Channel said about 10 days ago that Ivan would never affect the U.S..."

> "Fawn Boyd Vigil is just another one of the WSI Meteorologists that Fox uses from the WSI studios in Boston. She shows up occasionally on weekends on Fox News Live...Someone at Fox MUST HAVE FINALLY come to the conlusion the rest of us have - Janice Dean is an idiot. I haven't seen her all day."

> "Let's not forget the Weather Channel. Last night they were all over the storm with solid information and as many live locations as CNN. Jim Cantore was every bit as good as Cooper without the theatrics. If they weren't "best" they were within an eyelash of it. Lot of the "big boy" cablers didn't do half as well."

Send your observations of overnight storm coverage to tvnewser@mediabistro.com. TV insiders, use the anonymous feedback form on the left side of the page.

Hurricane Ivan: Anderson Cooper Is The Star

After missing Charley in Tampa and watching Frances from Melbourne, CNN's Anderson Cooper is in the heart of Ivan on the fourth floor of a hotel in Mobile. He is the star of this hurricane.

"I have never seen anything like this," Cooper reported. He was tethered to a rope on the roof. "To see mother nature at its full force, it makes you feel very insignificant, I gotta tell you," he said.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano has been reporting with Anderson. "I feel like a bit of a hypocrite," Marciano said. "I spend so much time telling people how dangerous these storms are...but i can't resist." CNN featured a graphic of "Rob's wind meter."

Lost Remote notes that they could barely stand up at some points...

Hurricane Ivan: Programming Notes

> On FNC, Greta anchored a two-hour On The Record. Bob Sellers took over at midnight. "Hurricane Ivan is a killer," Sellers intoned. Donna Fiducia joined him at 1:30am. Fox & Friends will begin at 5am.

> On CNN, Miles O'Brien is proving once again that he is CNN's best asset. A CNN e-mailer wonders where Aaron Brown was during NewsNight: "Miles O'Brien is anchoring very, very well." Catherine Callaway doesn't deserve to be seated next to him in Atlanta. At 2am, Miles took a break... (UPDATE: Brown was off for the Jewish holiday.)

> On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough anchored from 10pm to midnight, and Keith Olbermann returned until 1am. Milissa Rehberger took over coverage at 1am. Natalie Allen and Chris Jansing will anchor from 2 to 6am. Amy Robach and Randy Meier will be on from 6 to 10am.

Hurricane Ivan: 2:00am Coverage Updates

> CNN showed a very cool graphic of their eight reporters along the coast. That's why CNN is dominating this morning: They have more resources.

> At 2:55am, CNN's Gary Tuchman reported live via videophone from the eye of Ivan. He has been in Gulf Shores, Alabama all evening. "If the world ever comes to an end, this may be what it feels like," he said around 2am.

> Adam Housley's signal on FNC has been in and out due to rain fade: "It's when it rains so hard the satellite can't shoot through the rain," he explained.

> FNC is airing more affiliate coverage than CNN. But they've been pulling out of it too quickly.

> Ron Reagan has been reporting from Pensacola on MSNBC. He said these are times that give you an "active reason to like New Jersey."

MSNBC "wins the tacky graphic award," Lost Remote says. "While running a great clip of Kerry Sanders (wearing a snorkel mask) buffeting about in the wind, a banner across the bottom read, 'Kerry Takes on Ivan.'"

Hurricane Ivan: MSNBC Airs Norville Repeat

From an e-mailer: "I hope you report on the fact Debbie Norville's show is a REPEAT of one from last week. It's ridiculous. MSNBC is failing to provide a public service of a LIVE show when, what, four states are under a state of emergency?" The MSNers were annoyed, too. The show was scheduled to re-air at 1am, but live programming was added instead.
> Update: 2:15pm: "Only one block of Norville was a repeat.. the rest was live and brand spanking new!," an e-mailer says.

Hurricane Ivan: 1:00am Coverage Updates

> Miles O'Brien said CNN's reporters are "doing the 'kids, don't try this at home' reporting." He is reading viewer e-mail on the air. Send your questions to hurricane@cnn.com.

> Around 1:15am, FNC's graphics said the storm was moving "East at 12mph."

> Who is Fawn Boyd Vigil, and why is she being allowed to report on the hurricane on Fox News?

> MSNBC's Rosey Edeh doesn't seem very smart: "I'm starting to officially get into the category of not liking Rosey," an MSN chatter says. "...When she's on the quality of information provided suffers."

> "Rick Sanchez made his debut today on CNN [during Live From] standing on some beach awaiting hurricane Ivan," an e-mailer says.