TVNewser reported these ratings last night…

Who was #1 in royal wedding coverage? It depends on your clock. But it’s clear that CNN had a very strong showing. Between 7 and 11am, CNN was first: They averaged 1,597,000 viewers, compared to 1,499,000 for FNC and MSNBC’s 593,000, according to the network. CNN beat FNC in the 25-54 demo, as well (538k vs 485k). CNN’s coverage officially began at 6am, though. If you’re measuring each network’s technical time period of live wedding coverage, FNC comes in #1. For the Nielsen records, each network commenced live coverage at a different time. So here are the raw numbers for each network’s coverage, based on the time period they covered the funeral: FNC: 6:55 to 11am: 1.5 HH / 1,484,000 viewers / 481,000 demo CNN: 6 to 11am: 1.4 HH / 1,352,000 viewers / 462,000 demo MSNBC: 7 to 11am: 0.6 HH / 593,000 viewers / 133,000 demo…

Now the analysis of those ratings. CNN beat FNC in their coverage if you look at the same time. This has re-established a trend that was broken by the Iraq War, that CNN usually beats FNC in breaking news and special coverage. But for MSNBC to draw nearly 600,000 on the weekends is quite unusual. If you go back and look at the hour to hour (7-10AM for both days) numbers for the Pope’s coverage, MSNBC’s ratings for their wedding coverage are about the same as the Saturday morning numbers for just before the Pope’s death. This is curious as it may show that MSNBC has over the past few weeks reached an audience that will tune into it for special coverage of “major” events. Just some thoughts. Post your thougts in the comments section below.