HLN had a rough month in November in primetime. While its crime-focused dayside programming performed very well thanks to the Conrad Murray trial, the channel’s primetime shows were almost all down compared to last year.

The ratings for November, 2011:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 387K Total Viewers / 105K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 255K Total Viewers / 88K A25-54

HLN’s afternoon programming in the 2 to 6 PM hours were all up double digits over last year, thanks in large part to coverage of the Murray trial.

In primetime however things were not so rosy. “Nancy Grace” was down double-digits (-17% in Total Viewers and -25% in the demo) compared to last year, though she was absent for some of the month due to her participation on “Dancing with the Stars.”

“Issues with Jane Velez Mitchell” was also down compared to last year at 7 PM, down -8% in Total Viewers and -down 27% in the demo.

At 9 PM, “Dr. Drew” was down compared to the time period last year when Joy Behar was in that slot, though he has improved in the time period since taking over earlier this year.

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Microsoft’ search engine Bing posted a story about the news stories that generated the most searches in 2011. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a correlation between these stories and TV news ratings surrounding them.

The number one news story of 2011 according to Bing? The Casey Anthony Trial. The trial generated boffo ratings for HLN and CNN, and boosted the ratings of MSNBC and Fox News as well.

Rounding out the top 10:

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Think HLN will be forgoing political coverage in 2012? Think again.

“We are definitely focused on that story, because that is going to be driving the news water cooler in this country in 2012,” HLN executive VP Scot Safon tells TVNewser.

HLN is planning to cover the 2012 elections from a decidedly different angle than the other cable news outlets however. The channel is planning to focus on the people behind the politics, by telling viewers more about the politicians themselves, as well as their families and staff.

Safon points to the recent interview Herman Cain gave to Robin Meade, as well as the follow-up stories from the channel, as what they were looking to accomplish:

As an example, Safon mentioned HLN’s 9 PM host Dr. Drew Pinsky, and how he might approach coverage of politicians:

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The manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson‘s doctor, Conrad Murray, began this week and CNN’s Don Lemon is one of hundreds of journalists covering it from the courthouse in Los Angeles. TVNewser talked with Lemon this morning. He shared his thoughts on the media frenzy surrounding the trial:

I’m not a news executive, but I think the people making decisions may equate trial coverage to Casey Anthony ratings, and I don’t think that is necessarily so. It depends on the circumstances around all of it. I think the Casey Anthony trial caught a lot of news organizations off guard. Just because something is sensational or has great ratings we shouldn’t devote our entire resources to it, and I think CNN realizes that. With us, we can have [sister network] HLN go all out and do trial coverage all the time, while on CNN we’re covering the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, and we still have balance. So that’s a plus for us. I think with the idea that every trial, every big name, every scandal results in ratings, you risk a burnout from the audience if it’s overdone.

We’ll have more of TVNewser’s interview with Don Lemon on Monday.

In June and July, HLN saw record ratings as it covered the Casey Anthony trial. HLN’s strategy was to have essentially every show cover it, from its dayside programming to Nancy Grace to Dr. Drew Pinsky and Joy Behar.

Now the cable channel is looking to repeat that success with across-the-board coverage of the Dr. Conrad Murray trial. Murray is the man accused of causing the death of Michael Jackson.

Every one of HLN’s signature shows will feature Murray trial-related programming starting next Tuesday, September 27. HLN will also debut a two-part documentary “The Death of Michael Jackson: Dr. Conrad Murray on Trial” on Saturday September 24, hosted by Grace and featuring her HLN colleagues.

The move is part of a plan by HLN to “own” coverage of events and trials that are in its wheelhouse. By having every program cover the event at least in part, it ensures some flow between programming. In the case of Casey Anthony, it broke ratings records for the network.

More information, including full coverage plans, after the jump.

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The parents of Casey Anthony are breaking their silence after their daughter was acquitted of murdering her daughter and their granddaughter Caylee. George and Cindy Anthony won’t be speaking to NBC’s “Today” or ABC’s “Good Morning America,” however, instead they will be talking to daytime chat host Dr. Phil McGraw.

Producers of the show are open about the fact that they will be paying for the interview, although they took great strides to note that the Anthonys will not be benefiting financially from the transaction. Rather the money will go to a non-profit they founded in honor of Caylee.

The move could be a sign of things to come, as ABC moves away from licensing material in exchange for interviews, and the possibility that other TV news outlerts could follow suit.

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It was a big month for HLN. Intense interest in the Casey Anthony trial led the network to significant increases across the board when compared to last July: in total day, a +146% increase in total viewers and an +84% increase in the A25-54 demographic, and in primetime, a +120% increase in total viewers and a +102% increase in the demographic. In fact, HLN topped both MSNBC and CNN in both total and demo viewers in July, placing only behind Fox News Channel in both primetime and total day.

The ratings for July, 2011:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 998K Total Viewers / 295K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 702K Total Viewers / 230K A25-54

Every show on HLN saw an increase in viewership compared to the same month last year. Particularly strong were the 4 p.m. hour of “HLN News,” which saw a +352% increase in total viewers and a +215% increase in the demographic, and the 5 p.m. hour of “Special Report,” which increased their audience by +318% in total viewers and +195% in the demographic. Nancy Grace, who was the public face of HLN’s coverage on her 8 p.m. show, was up +98% in total viewers and +89% in the A25-54 demographic.

Another big winner was “Dr. Drew,” which was up +119% in total viewers and +139% in the demo compared to last year.

The weakest-performing show was the 11 p.m. “Showbiz Tonight,” but even that program increased its viewership by +45% in total viewers and by +11% in the demographic.

HLN’s full release on July 2011 ratings is after the jump.

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With a major political story to cover in the form of the debt-ceiling debate, MSNBC did not succumb to the Summer ratings doldrums that can so easily grip TV networks in July. Quite to the contrary, the network was up double-digits nearly across the board, albeit with a significant exception.

The ratings for July, 2011:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 758K Total Viewers / 251K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 446K Total Viewers / 161K A25-54

Year-over-year, MSNBC is up double digits: up +14% in Total Viewers and up +11% in adults 25-54 for total day viewing and up +11% in Total Viewers and up +9% in A25-54 in primetime. MSNBC continued to top CNN in primetime in both total and demo viewers, but it placed behind both a Casey Anthony-fueled HLN and Fox News Channel in both categories.

Nearly every MSNBC program was up double-digits compared to the same time period last year. The exception was 8 PM’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” which was down -9% in total viewers and -15% in the demo compared to 2010, when Keith Olbermann helmed the timeslot. 6 PM also underperformed when compared to the shows around, remaining flat in total viewers and gaining only +8% in the demo. Cenk Uyger, who had been anchoring in that slot, left MSNBC, and no formal replacement has been announced, although it is widely believed that Al Sharpton will get the nod.

“Hardball,” “The Ed Show” and “Morning Joe” were some of MSNBC’s strongest performers in July. The morning show was up +31% in total viewers and +42% in the demo compared to last year, placing third in both categories behind “Fox & Friends” and HLN’s “Morning Express.”
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Reports from the past few days have suggested that Casey Anthony‘s legal team is already speaking to networks about securing her first interview, which would likely come a few months down the line. Nancy Grace is among those reporting that the Anthony team is seeking $1 million-plus for an interview. As astonishing number.

However, just because they seek it, it does not mean they shall receive it.

ABC News will almost certainly stay far away from Anthony, even if they were offered the interview for free. The revelation that ABC had paid well over $200,000 in licensing fees to Anthony’s family and legal team during the course of the case is a source of great shame for many inside the division. Those fees played a big role in new ABC News chief Ben Sherwood‘s decision to cut back on licensing material from potential interview subjects. If ABC were to interview Anthony, the default assumption would be that they paid, and the division does not want to undermine the new policy.

CBS News has never been a player when it comes to paying for interviews. Its main newscasts now focus more on politics and policy, leaving crime and punishment to “48 Hours.”

Both ABC and CBS told The Hollywood Reporter‘s Marisa Guthrie that they would not license anything from Anthony or her team.

That would leave NBC, which now has a huge advantage in booking guests.

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ABC News is planning to cut down significantly on the number of interviews it gets via the paying of license fees, according to The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz.

According to Kurtz, the decision to limit the license fees came after new ABC News chief Ben Sherwood decided that the practice was something of a black eye on the news division. ABC paid more than $200,000 to the family of Casey Anthony during the trial, and more recently paid money to a woman who corresponded with Anthony Weiner. An ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser that Sherwood had been thinking about implementing the change for some time.

When asked for comment, spokesman Jeffrey Schneider confirmed the new policy, saying: “We can book just about anyone based on the strength of our journalism, the excellence of our anchors, correspondents and producers, and the size of our audience. These licensing deals had become a crutch, and an unnecessary one.”

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