When CNN abandons news, viewers abandon CNN. On Friday, Nielsen recorded 239,000 viewers for CNN's 10pm timeslot. It was NewsNight's lowest-rated telecast ever based on HH and total viewers since the show debuted in 2001.

"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that the Newsnight #'s were so low on Friday night. They replayed Infidelity -- a show that has been repeated on CNN Presents way too many times," an e-mailer says. No NewsNight, no viewers. Seems simple. Hasn't FNC proven that cable news needs consistency? "These 'specials' are certainly making me change the channel -- midweek I turned on CNN at 10 p.m. wanting to watch the news on NewsNight and instead got a Sanjay Gupta special on memory," another e-mailer said.

> Friday the 13th was also the first time ever that HLN has defeated CNN in primetime on a weeknight among total viewers.