HLN

It is the end of an era at HLN, as the network has told its cable partners that it is pulling “Local Edition,” the five-minute segments at the bottom of every half-hour dedicated to local news and programming.

In a statement to TVNewser, the network laid out why it was choosing to stop carriage of the segments:

“Over the past several years, HLN has evolved its programming to focus more on long form shows, changing the programming format where Local Edition currently airs. After assessing viewer feedback, foregoing Local Edition furthers our programming evolution and benefits the viewer experience.”

Why is this a big deal?

Read more

HLN host Nancy Grace has finally put her formidable skills as a former prosecutor to work analyzing the Trayvon Martin case, after getting a late start.

Grace is reaping the rewards of covering such a powerful case, as her program placed second in the key adults 25-54 demo behind “The O’Reilly Factor” Tuesday. In fact, Grace was a Twitter “trending topic” from 8-9 PM Tuesday evening.

On her show last night, Grace ended up getting into a heated argument with one of accused shooter George Zimmerman‘s friends, cutting off his mic:

While Fox News, CNN and MSNBC were down year-to-year, HLN saw growth in its primetime: up +4% in Total Viewers and flat in A25-54 viewers. In Total Day viewership, HLN was down -4% in Total Viewers and down -8% in A25-54 viewers.

The ratings for March, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 378K total viewers / 116K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 258Ktotal viewers / 94K A25-54

For the quarter, HLN was up +8% in Total Viewers and down -6% in A25-54 viewers in Total Day. In Primetime, the network was up +7% in Total Viewers and flat in the demographic.

The ratings for Q1, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 390K total viewers / 117K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 264Ktotal viewers / 96K A25-54

Compared to the year-ago quarter, HLN’s daytime programming is down -11% in Total Viewers and down -23% in the demo.

Things are not much better in the later hours. Jane Velez-Mitchell at 7pmET hour, Nancy Grace at 8pmET and Dr. Drew Pinsky at 9pmET are all down in both Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers compared to Q1 2011.

The 5pmET hour of “HLN Special Report” is up +7% in Total Viewers and down -23% in the demographic compared to the year-ago quarter. “Prime News” at 6pmET shows a similar trend, up +13% in Total Viewers and down -20% in A25-54 viewers.

As we noted earlier this week, the sad case of Trayvon Martin has become a national story. For crime and justice-centric HLN, it would appear to be right in its wheelhouse. Indeed, the Martin case has been discussed on nearly every HLN show, with host Jane Velez-Mitchell sporting a hoodie on her program in solidarity:

But while most of HLN has made the Martin case a priority, its most popular host has been silent on the subject: Nancy Grace.

Read more

HLN’s Nancy Grace was hanging out in the clubhouse last night on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.”

And watch what happens, LIVE, when she takes a viewer phone call from someone who asks Grace if she regrets questioning whether “Whitney Houston‘s death was a murder.” Playing the role of defense attorney, Grace played defense, before adding with a sneer, “Anything else?”

With the unexpected death of Whitney Houston, HLN substantially improved its ratings from a year ago.

HLN was up +19% in total viewers and +5% in the demo in total day compared to February of last year. In primetime, the channel was up +22% in total viewers and +20% in the demo.

The ratings for February, 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 426000 total viewers / 136,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 285,000 total viewers / 106,000 A25-54

Arguably the two biggest winners were the replay of “Nancy Grace” at 10 PM, which was up +11% in total viewers and slightly in the demo compared to last year, when “Joy Behar” was in the slot. At 11 PM, “Showbiz Tonight” was up +29% in total viewers and +20% in the demo.

More information after the jump.
Read more

It was back in 2004 that attorney-turned TV personality Nancy Grace received her own program on HLN. Last night, Grace celebrated the milestone with her staff before the show:

Nancy Grace and her staff in 2004

HLN anchor Nancy Grace is taking heat for some comments she made yesterday on CNN related to the death of Whitney Houston. During a live report outside the Beverly Hilton hotel Monday, Grace was questioning whether someone close to Houston should be held liable for her death. But in making her point wondered: “Who let her slip or pushed her underneath that water?” asked Grace. “Apparently no signs of force or trauma to the body. Who let Whitney Houston go under her water?”

“Might it have been one person? Might it have been multiple people?” said anchor Brooke Baldwin, “All excellent questions.”

But that was Monday. Grace has moved on. And today, still in LALAland, the HLN host turned up on the set of a sitcom.

Read more

Yes, it sounds gross and you might think it is when you watch this clip. HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell, who last week renamed her show from “Issues” to “Jane Velez-Mitchell,” might still have some issues. Like dumpster dining. Yes. Dining. It’s actually part of the Freegan movement. Watch:

CNN and HLN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider celebrated the release of her book, Extreme Weather, at Eataly on Thursday night. Schneider and her guests — including chef Lidia Bastianich, who held a cooking class with the author before the book signing –

After the jump, find out who turned out for Schneider’s fete.

Read more