Archives: November 2005

It’s program ranker time. FNC had 9 of the top 10 shows on cable news in November, with Bill O’Reilly averaging an impressive 2,552,000 viewers. H&C was #2, Greta was #3, Shep was #4 and Hume was #5.

CNN’s Larry King was #7. He averaged 1,012,000 viewers in November. Notably, NewsNight with Aaron Brown averaged 795,000 viewers in November before it was yanked off the air; Anderson Cooper 360 averaged 632,000.

The #1 show on MSNBC was Countdown with Keith Olbermann. It averaged a strong 462,000 viewers for the month, beating HLN’s top program, Nancy Grace. Hardball was MSNBC’s #2 show, and Rita was #3.

Analyze the data yourself:

> Nov. 2005 program ranker (PDF)

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Courtesy FNC’s press release:

Total viewers:

Total day: “FNC attracted 889,000 viewers, while CNN averaged 449,000 viewers, and MSNBC averaged 257,000 viewers.”

Primetime: “FNC more than doubled CNN’s viewership average with 1,652,000 viewers, (down 24% vs. November ‘05) while CNN averaged 718,000 viewers (down 27% vs. November ’05) and MSNBC averaged 392,000 viewers (down 11% vs. November ’05).”

25-54 demographic:

Total day: “FNC averaged of 228,000 viewers vs. CNN’s 129,000 and MSNBC’s average of 97,000 viewers vs. November ’05.”

Primetime: “FNC [led] all cable news channels with a Prime Time average of 345,000 viewers vs. CNN’s 193,000 and MSNBC’s 152,000 viewers vs. November ’04.”

“Just like a trend in Anderson Cooper‘s neckties, the ratings gap between CNN and Fox News is narrowing,” Broadcasting & Cable reports.

“A CNN release Wednesday cited Nielsen Media Research data that shows the news network averaged 198,000 viewers in the news demo, adults 25-54, during Anderson Cooper 360′s 10 p.m. – midnight time slot since the show debuted Nov. 7. That’s 57% below the Fox News’ programming, Hannity & Colmes and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, that runs in the same time period, which averaged 311,000 viewers.

Last November, the networks were separated by a 179% gap in the 25-54 demo: CNN averaged 194,000 viewers and Fox News averaged 542,000.

The gap-lowering should not all be attributed to 360, however. All of the news networks posted double-digit drops in November compared to the same period last year, when large audiences were tuning in for election coverage. CNN’s drop was lower than Fox News’. Year to year, CNN dropped 34% in the demo in total-day viewing to 129,000 viewers, while Fox News dropped 49% to 228,000 viewers. (MSNBC was down 20% to 97,000 viewers; CNBC was down 19% to 47,000 viewers; and Headline News was down 17% to 84,000 viewers).” Here’s the rest…

Despite November 2004′s inflated election numbers, viewership for CNN’s 7pm time slot has increased by 8 percent in total viewers and 4 percent in the 25-54 demographic over the year-ago. The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer premiered in the time slot Nov. 7.

In November 2005, The Fox Report with Shep Smith was down 21 percent in total viewers and 47 percent in the demo compared to the same year-ago period. MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews was down 21 percent in total viewers and 17 percent in the 25-54 demo.

> Update: 4:30pm: In total viewers, Shep averaged 1,533,000 viewers in November, doubling The Situation Room and beating everyone in cable news at 7 p.m. combined.

Ratings for November 2004 were sky-high thanks to the election season. Compared to the year-ago, Fox News lost nearly half of its total day 25-54 demographic audience in November 2005. Their average of 227,000 viewers is their lowest in over two years, as this chart provided by CNN demonstrates:

On Tuesday, the new Nightline aired for the first time in its regular 11:35pm time slot. The broadcast delivered a 3.8/9 “weighted metered market household average” according to overnight ratings provided by ABC News. The #’s are “up +15% from the 11/28/05 broadcast (first night of new
format), up +12% vs. Nov ’05 to date, and up +6% from Nov ’04.” The program ranked #1 in four markets: Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, and Birmingham. It ranked #2 in 18 markets, including NY and LA.

The Journal Editorial Report will move to FNC in January, the network announced today. The program will make its final appearance on PBS on Dec. 2.

“We’re pleased to partner with The Wall Street Journal on this highly regarded program and we look forward to delivering our viewers another quality program on the number one cable news network,” Bill Shine said in a press release.

Karen Elliott House, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and senior vice president of Dow Jones & Company, added: “I am delighted that the Journal Editorial Report will be appearing on the Fox News Channel, with its nationwide audience and a track record of successful public affairs programming.” Here is the press release…

Later today, Fox News Channel will announce that the Wall Street Journal’s “Journal Editorial Report” is moving from PBS to FNC. The news was leaked to FTV a few minutes ago.

The program is currently hosted by Paul Gigot, the editor of the conservative editorial page of the Journal. The program originally appeared on CNBC, but it was cancelled in January 2003. It reappeared on PBS in September 2004.

According to OpinionJournal.com, the program is currently presented by Thirteen/WNET New York and replayed on more than 300 public TV stations across the country.

The “Journal Editorial Report” on PBS has been enveloped in controversy recently. A May 2 report in the New York Times said Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Tomlinson “encouraged corporation and public broadcasting officials to broadcast ‘The Journal Editorial Report.’” Tomlinson helped get the program on the air “as a way of balancing ‘Now,’” the story added. Tomlinson was “instrumental in lining up $5 million in corporate financing and pressing PBS to distribute it.”

“Participants in the show generally conform to conservative orthodoxy in their discussion of public affairs,” a May story on the UPI wire added.

The issue has been in the media as recently as Sunday. A Washington Post editorial said “Tomlinson made extensive efforts to develop and promote the conservative ‘Journal Editorial Report,’ featuring Wall Street Journal commentators — despite federal law barring board members from being involved in program development.”

New NBC News president Steve Capus will be keeping a watchful eye on MSNBC. In an interview with TV Guide, he cited the success of MSNBC.com and commented on the possibility of renaming the cable net the NBC News Channel:

TVGuide.com: What’s the biggest challenge in terms of programming MSNBC? How are you going to make the ratings improve? Capus: It’s quietly made some gains of late, especially in prime time. We’re happy about that — but we’re not satisfied. We’re going to keep pushing. I think there have been some questions about the overall definition of the channel. That’s probably still the biggest challenge. TVGuide.com: Is a name change under consideration? Capus: Yeah, we’re thinking about it. I’m not sure whether that makes sense or not. I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that MSNBC.com is such a successful business. Does anybody in America know what ESPN stands for? But you know what it means.

Here’s the full interview…