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.

The Jodi Arias trial continued to boost HLN’s ratings this month, with the network showing double digit growth in both Total Day and primetime. HLN placed fourth among the cable news networks in primetime and among Total Viewers in Total Day, but edged MSNBC to be third among A25-54 viewers in Total Day.

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

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 524,000 Total Viewers / 177,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 390,000 Total Viewers / 142,000 A25-54

Compared to the same month last year, HLN is up +52% in Total Viewers and +43% in A25-54 viewers in Total Day. In Primetime, the network is up +40% and +37%, respectively. During the 9am-5pm daytime programming, HLN had triple digit growth across the board, up +146% in Total Viewers and +107% in the demographic.

Early afternoon program was up significantly compared to the same week last year. The 3pm-6pmET hours were all up triple digits in both Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers. The 3pmET hour of “HLN News” was up the most, +315% in Total Viewers and +290% in A25-54 viewers.

The network’s primetime programming was also up across the board this month. “Nancy Grace” was up +50% in Total Viewers and +38% in A25-54 viewers, and Dr. Drew Pinsky‘s program was up +105% and +97%, respectively. “After Dark,” launched last month for the Arias trial, is up +58% and +55% compared to April 2012, when a re-air of Grace’s program aired in the 10pmET timeslot.

HLN’s release is after the jump. Read more

MSNBC has signed Chris Matthews to a new, long-term contract with the channel, TVNewser has learned.

As part of the new deal, however, he will be ending “The Chris Matthews Show,” a syndicated public affairs show produced out of the NBC News DC bureau. The final edition of the program will air July 21. The half-hour show typically aired on Sunday mornings, though not every local market carried it. The show has been produced by NBC since 2002.

Matthews says he is ending the syndicated show to focus on “Hardball,” his books and his long-form TV docs.

“There are limits to what I can do in a week,” Matthews says in a statement. “Henceforth, I intend to concentrate any time left over from “Hardball” on writing books like the one I’m committed to now on the relationship between Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan, that and producing documentaries on history and politics.”

The full statement from Matthews, after the jump.

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All this week, Anderson Cooper will be pulling double-duty, not only hosting “AC360″ at 8 PM, but new editions of “AC360″ at 10 PM… with an entirely different format.

The 8 PM show stays the same, but the 10 PM editions of the show will utilize a panel format through Thursday night, with Cooper serving as the host. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour and senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will be guests all week, as will Amy Holmes from TheBlaze. Every day there will be a different guest joining the panel as well. For Monday’s show, the guest was blogger Andrew Sullivan, a good friend of Cooper’s. Cooper, you may recall, formally “came out” as gay in a post on Sullivan’s “Daily Dish.”

CNN has been using 10 PM as a testing ground for new shows in recent weeks. First it tried out panel show “(Get To) The Point,” and then announced plans to re-run Jake Tapper’s afternoon show in the slot. The Boston bombing changed coverage around, but now the channel is back to experimenting.

One thing seems certain: the 10 PM re-run of “AC360″ will not be sticking around much longer. Whether it is replaced by a new format “AC360″ or by some other program, the channel is aggressively testing out other options there.

Update: It looks like the panel format may be worth repeating. 10 PM’s “AC360″ placed first among all the cable news channels in adults 25-54, though it remained third in total viewers.

Bloomberg Television has eliminated less than five positions in its New York bureau. In a statement to TVNewser, a Bloomberg spokesperson said the network has “reassigned some production roles as we continue to expand our digital video operation.”

The network’s transition to digital began last year. The positions eliminated this morning, some of which were held by camera operators, will not affect the company’s net head count. The layoffs will be offset by plans to hire up to five digital video producers.