MSNBC Recants on Release

It’s no secret networks may take a little…creative license when it comes to ratings releases. But yesterday’s MSNBC release about Hardball with Chris Matthews‘ June win at 5pmET caused MSNBC to admit it was, “an error.”

Multichannel News’ Linda Moss writes about the distinction between the program, Hardball, and the 5pmET time period. Although the release touts a Hardball win, the program actually finished third (CNN’s The Situation Room was the top rated program at 5pmET in the A25-54 demo).

Instead, helped by high ratings on June 13 and June 18 (the day Tim Russert died and the televised memorial service — what Nielsen called “Special Coverage”) MSNBC won the 5pmET hour.

An MSNBC spokesperson tells Moss: “We used time-period data to calculate our ratings, like we always do. However, had we realized that Hardball wouldn’t have finished No. 1 for the month with the special coverage excluded, we wouldn’t have issued the press release as written. It was an error on our part.”

> Update: Greta Van Susteren weighs in on MSNBC “cooking the books.”

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