25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 223 | MSNBC: 121 | CNN: 140 | HLN: 242

• Primetime: FNC: 236 | MSNBC: 131 | CNN: 155 | HLN: 273

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 254 | MSNBC: 90 | CNN: 153 | HLN: 254

• Primetime: FNC: 272 | MSNBC: 159 | CNN: 165 | HLN: 297

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 236 | MSNBC: 115 | CNN: 161 | HLN: 187

• Primetime: FNC: 308 | MSNBC: 160 | CNN: 172 | HLN: 264

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 245 | MSNBC: 102 | CNN: 129 | HLN: 117

• Primetime: FNC: 309 | MSNBC: 157 | CNN: 134 | HLN: 134

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 222 | MSNBC: 112 | CNN: 160 | HLN: 118

• Primetime: FNC: 308 | MSNBC: 179 | CNN: 202 | HLN: 151

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 187 | MSNBC: 144 | CNN:142 | HLN: 109

• Primetime: FNC: 243 | MSNBC: 236 | CNN: 255 | HLN: 83

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 158 | MSNBC: 130 | CNN: 153 | HLN: 119

• Primetime: FNC: 150 | MSNBC: 182| CNN: 230 | HLN: 132

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The Boston bombing and subsequent manhunt, as well as the horrific Texas fire led to a huge news month in April, and Fox News led the pack among the cable news channels.

The ratings for April, 2013 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 2,016,000 Total Viewers / 389,000 A25-54
• Total Day Mon-Sun): 1,233,000 Total Viewers / 278,000 A25-54

Compared to the same month last year, Fox News was up +9% in total viewers and down -2% in adults 25-54. In total day FNC was up +14% in total viewers and +2% in the demo. April 2012 saw a number of GOP primaries, which led to slightly than higher average numbers for FNC. That said, the bombing in Boston was clearly the bigger story, and every hour of the day was up for FNC in total viewers, even as some hours were down in the key demo.

For the month, Fox News was the number two channel among all ad-supported cable networks (more on that later), the first time that happened in a non-election month since the tsunami in japan in March, 2011.

In primetime: “The O’Reilly Factor” was up +7% in total viewers and down -4% in the demo at 8 PM, while “Hannity” was up +14% in total viewers and +5% in the demo at 9 PM. 10 PM’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” was up +1% in total viewers and down -3% in the demo.

The dayside shows tended to have the most growth, with “Special Report” up +20% in total viewers and up +6% in the demo, and “Your World” up +22% in total viewers and +15% in the demo.

In the morning, “Fox & Friends” was up +10% in total viewers and +1% in the demo. “The Five” was up +21% in total viewers, but was down -5% in the demo.

CNN claimed the second-place spot among the cable news networks in the busy news month of April, topping MSNBC in both Total Day and primetime for the first time in more than two years. The network also showed the most growth among its competition, up double digits among Total Viewers and triple digits in the A25-54 demographic compared to the same month last year.

The ratings for April 2013 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 920,000 Total Viewers / 340,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 638,000 Total Viewers / 228,000 A25-54

The month of April was a busy one for all the cable news networks, with extended coverage of the Boston marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt as well as the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. Every hour of CNN programming was up double or triple digits compared to April 2012, which was an especially slow month for the network. In Total Day, CNN was up +79% in Total Viewers and +109% in the A25-54 demographic. In primetime, the network was up +80% and +128%, respectively.

The 6pmET hour of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” showed the most growth of any cable news program in April, up +124% in Total Viewers and +224% in A25-54 viewers. “OutFront with Erin Burnett” posted its best month since launching in 2011, growing +145% in Total Viewers and +221% in the demo year-over-year. Piers Morgan‘s 9pmET program was also up significantly, growing +71% and +119%, respectively.

Two newcomers for CNN — Jake Tapper and Anthony Bourdain — also boosted their respective timeslots. Tapper’s 4pmET program is up +54% in Total Viewers and +108% in the A25-54 demographic compared to the same month last year, when the hour was home to “The Situation Room.” Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” boosted the Sunday 9pmET hour by +122% and +440%, respectively.

“Anderson Cooper 360″ averaged 1.16 million Total Viewers and 431,000 A25-54 viewers for the month, making it the top rated show on CNN in both ratings measurements.

CNN’s release is after the jump. Read more

April 2013 was a big news month, but while some of MSNBC’s dayside news programs saw ratings bumps, overall the network was flat or down compared to 2012 in both primetime and total day.

The ratings for April, 2013 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 682K Total Viewers / 234K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 406K Total Viewers / 139K A25-54

Compared to April 2012 MSNBC was down -10% in total viewers and -1% in adults 25-54 in primetime. In total day, MSNBC was down -4% in total viewers and was flat in the demo. That said, coverage of the Boston bombing (and subsequent manhunt) on CNN and the Jodi Arias trial on HLN led to the channel placing fourth in the demo in total day for the month.

During dayside, MSNBC actually some substantial growth, with every show from 9AM-2PM up in both total and demo viewers. The most “Andrea Mitchell Reports” was up +14% in total viewers and +47% in the demo, while 12PM’s “Now” was up +16% in total viewers and +19% in the demo. “Martin Bashir” was up at 4 PM, improving +6% in total viewers and +41% in the demo.

The only MSNBC shows to be down in both total and demo viewers were “Morning Joe” (down -6% and -14%, respectively) , “PoliticsNation” at 6 PM (-15% and -11%, respectively), and 10PM, which is “The Last Word” and long-form docs (-8% and -6%, respectively).

Some shows, like “Hardball,” and “The Cycle” were down in total viewers but up in the demo.