August numbers wrap up…
Mediaweek’s Anthony Crupi writes up the August numbers…
CNN continued to enjoy significant ratings increases in August as unrest in the Middle East and a foiled terrorist plot sent viewers scrambling to their TV sets.
According to Nielsen Media Research, CNN was up 21 percent in total viewers in prime versus August 2005, with an average audience of 900,000 tuning in during the month. The news net was also up 25 percent in the target 25-54 demo.
Rival Fox News Channel was down 28 percent in prime, averaging 1.51 million viewers versus 2.09 million during August 2005, a period marked by the landfall of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent destruction of New Orleans. FNC was also down 20 percent in its target demo, dropping from .54 million in August 2005 to .43 million this month.
Despite its ratings decreases, FNC still outdrew CNN by more than a half-million viewers in prime time; moreover, the Fox net boasted nine of the top-10 ranked programs on the month, including the perennial No. 1 finisher The O’Reilly Factor, which drew an average 2.07 million viewers in its 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. time slot.
Regardless of the stories, I think the numbers will be much more revealing of the landscape after September. I am always suspicious of summer numbers.
Comment by Skippy — August 31, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
True Skippy. The news last August was much different than this August. Note that MSNBC’s #s are up, but the network has fallen from #3 to #4. Last July-August the big news was domestic; This July-August the big news was overseas. I do think the trend is that FNC is hurting and CNN and HLN are doing well. And I think MSNBC is stagnant but finding a nitch.
Comment by erljr — August 31, 2006 @ 5:56 pm