Archives: October 2006

CNN’s documentary series Broken Government and the Lou Dobbs Tonight Town Hall meetings “averaged a 31 percent increase in P2+ and a 51 percent increase in P25-54 in their premiere telecasts compared to regular 7p/8p program averages year-to-date,” the network noted today.

The comparison isn’t direct, because the percentages are based on averall averages of all the specials versus the combined YTD ratings for the 7pm and 8pm hours. But the success of the political specials is indisputable. Lou Dobbs corraled more than a million viewers for his town halls…

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In October, MSNBC’s simulcast of Imus in the Morning “posted major gains over a year ago,” the network notes. “The show averaged 181,000 in the demo, up 80 percent, and 325,000 in total viewers, up 3 percent.”

Those are the radio host’s best numbers since April 2003, Dan Abrams said in a memo to staff today.

ICN has a chart of Imus’s growth on MSNBC…

“More than a year after plans for the channel were announced, Al Jazeera International is finally set to launch” on Wednesday, Nov. 15, Press Gazette reports.

“The inaugural broadcast from the new English-language news and current affairs channel will start from its Doha headquarters at 12 noon GMT.” More…

Here’s the October program ranker for cable news. FNC had nine of the top ten shows. Greta slipped to fifth place, from third in Q3 (but is still #3 among demo viewers).

CNN’s Larry King placed #6. The second most popular CNN show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, came in tenth overall.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann was the top MSNBC show. Notably, Hardball, Countdown and Scarborough all topped the Doc Block.

Check out all the numbers:

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Oct. 2006 program ranker (PDF)

Total day:	FNC	CNN	MSNBC	HLN	CNBC
Oct. ’06:	260	177	125	97	66
Oct. ’05:	264	154	93	85	48
% change:	-2%	+15%	+34%	+14%	+38%

Primetime:	FNC	CNN	MSNBC	HLN	CNBC
Oct. ’06:	355	227	164	141	77
Oct. ’05:	392	229	142	119	75
% change:	-9%	-1%	+15%	+18%	+3%

Total day:	FNC	CNN	MSNBC	HLN	CNBC
Oct. ’06:	786	490	286	231	176
Oct. ’05:	948	533	252	215	158
% change:	-17%	-8%	+13%	+7%	+11%

Primetime:	FNC	CNN	MSNBC	HLN	CNBC
Oct. ’06:	1,291	720	418	357	170
Oct. ’05:	1,715	824	359	366	132
% change:	-25%	-13%	+16%	-2%	+29%

“Meredith Vieira dressed up as Bette Midler for her first Halloween with NBC’s Today show, but she somehow got stuck inside the clamshell she was brought out in,” the AP notes.

“Viewers saw guys from the crew with their backsides to the camera frantically try to pry open the clamshell. By the time they did, the Midler song Vieira was supposed to lip-synch to was over.” More…

“CBS News romped to an easy lead in the nominations announced Tuesday for the Business and Financial Emmys, to be given out Dec. 7,” TV Week reports.

“CBS News nabbed 15 of the 33 nominations in seven categories. In the category of outstanding interpretation of a business news story in a regularly scheduled newscast, CBS News Sunday Morning is competing only with itself, taking all four nominations. It received a total of five nominations. CBS’s 60 Minutes faces a similar situation, earning all four nominations in the category of outstanding coverage of a current business news story — news magazines and long form. 60 Minutes earned a total of nine nominations.”

NBC has five noms, CNBC has four, CNN has three, and ABC has one…

Fox News Channel “continued its dominance throughout the month of October 2006, celebrating its 10th anniversary with an historic 250 week consecutive winning streak in cable news, according to Nielsen Media Research,” the network announced today.

“The network marked the 250 week milestone from 10/09/06 to 10/15/06. CNN has not beaten FNC for a seven day period in the ratings since the week ending December 30, 2001.”

Brit Hume will anchor FNC’s election coverage, “You Decide 2006,” from 7pm to midnight on Nov. 7. “Programming will include interviews with key political players and live reports from FNC’s team of seasoned political correspondents, anchors and analysts,” the network said.

Chris Wallace will cover the national exit polls. Fred Barnes, Mort Kondracke, Juan Williams, Bill Kristol, and Michael Barone will provide analysis.

Carl Cameron will cover Senate races, Major Garrett will cover House races, Megyn Kendall will handle the gubernatorial races, and Bret Baier will be at the White House…

> Update: 7:39pm: On Sunday, Hume will host an election special at 8pm and a live edition of Hannity & Colmes will air at 9pm…