Inside Cable News

January 11, 2007

Presidential Address Ratings: More info…

FNC’s coverage of the Presidential Address earned 4,430 P2+ from 9-9:22p. CNN averaged 2,274 P2+ from 9-9:21p, and MSNBC averaged 1,149 from 9:01-9:22p.

FNC’s Analysis following the Presidential Address earned 3,777 P2+ from 9:22-10p. CNN averaged 2,501 P2+ for coverage of the Democratic Response and MSNBC’s analysis averaged 1,520 P2+ from 9:25-9:30p.

More ratings info after the jump…
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CNN in Somalia…

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, one of the only U.S. network reporters in eastern Africa covering the conflict in Somalia, provided reports this morning on the U.S. air strikes launched against al Qaeda targets. Transcript highlights follow..

S. O’BRIEN: Getting this news just in to CNN. We want to turn to the situation in Somalia.

Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has just come out of a briefing in Kenya, where U.S. officials are telling her about the details of that raid that happened on Sunday by U.S. forces in Somalia.

Barbara, good morning to you. What’s the very latest?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, we have just come out of a background briefing by a senior U.S. official in Kenya who says the United States now believes that they did not get any of the three high-value al Qaeda targets they were going after when that AC-130 gunship Sunday night into Monday morning launched its air strike into southern Somalia. The officials specifically said that as far as the U.S. knows, the top man they were looking for, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, long believed to be one of the masterminds of the U.S. embassy bombings here in East Africa in 1998, the official said, “As far as we know, he is not dead.”

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Wednesday’s Numbers…

Cable News Ratings for January 10, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,107,000 viewers
CNN – 657,000 viewers
MSNBC – 390,000 viewers
CNBC – 235,000 viewers
HLN – 215,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 3,074,000 viewers
CNN – 1,685,000 viewers
MSNBC – 1,085,000 viewers
CNBC – 300,000 viewers
HLN – 477,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 333,000 viewers
CNN –248,000 viewers
MSNBC- 157,000 viewers
CNBC – 105,000 viewers
HLN – 91,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 766,000 viewers
CNN – 566,000 viewers
MSNBC – 411,000 viewers
CNBC –151,000 viewers
HLN –191,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 837,000 viewers (333,000)
American Morning – 360,000 viewers (155,000)
Imus in the Morning- 324,000 viewers (131,000)
Robin & Co. – 196,000 viewers (92,000)
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Presidential Address ratings…

Presidential Address 9-9:30pm ET

FNC – 4,400,000 viewers
CNN – 2,361,000 viewers
MSNBC – 1,211,000 viewers

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Rice loves FNC…but not open mics…

Condoleeza Rice made her TV preferences known today during an open mic gaffe. Reuters has the story

In comments overheard on an open microphone between morning television interviews, including one with Fox, the top U.S. diplomat said: “My Fox guys, I love every single one of them.”

Dodd announces candidacy on Imus…

Chris Dodd announced his candidacy for President on Imus. So MSNBC put a release out

In an interview that aired earlier today on “Imus in the Morning,” Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) announced his candidacy for the Presidency. Sen. Dodd told Don Imus, “I’m going to file today, formally, papers of candidacy.”

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CNN has MLK Papers page…

CNN put out a release on its MLK section on CNN.com in conjunction with the five part series airing this week on the MLK papers…

Handwritten sermons from the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Pencil edits of statements from a Birmingham, Ala., jail. A worn scrap of paper found the day he died. Through exclusive access to the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, CNN.com has created a special section that delves into a personal side of the civil rights leader few have seen.

Launched in conjunction with the five-part series “MLK: Words that Changed a Nation” airing this week during CNN’s American Morning, the online report illustrates five parts of King’s adult life – his role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott; the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; his receipt of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize and the 1965 march in Selma, Ala., for voting rights; and his assassination in 1968.

The online “MLK: Words that Changed a Nation” is located at www.CNN.com/mlk.
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Cable Provider for US Embassy in Iraq drops CNN…?

Wonkette has the details…

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Van Susteren to Missouri…

Greta Van Susteren will be in Missouri tonight for On The Record. She’ll be covering the story of 13 year old William “Ben” Ownby who dissapeared after getting off a school bus on Monday.

Cramer steps down from CNNI

The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Scott Leith has an interview with Chris Cramer…

Chris Cramer, who joined CNN 11 years ago after leaving a high-level post at the BBC, plans to retire from his job in charge of CNN International.

Cramer, 59, led CNN International through many high-growth years. He leaves as all units of the operation are profitable.

“When I came here in 1996, the job I was asked to do was to take CNN International to the next level,” Cramer said in an interview Wednesday, after he announced his plans. “My job is done here.”

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Presidential Address: Coverage review…

Tom Shales in the Washington Post wraps up last night’s coverage of the Bush address… (Note to Shales: Brian Williams was in Washintong D.C. yesterday. He had an off the record sit down with Bush in the White House…presumably with other reporters. I saw his satellite report from the White House grounds. So Couric was not the only anchor to come to D.C. yesterday. Williams did return to NYC however.)

Fox News had perhaps the most elaborate post-speech coverage, with Brit Hume calling first on reporter Greg Palkot in Baghdad for reaction there. Unfortunately, as Palkot told viewers, it was 5 o’clock in the morning, so there was no one to query. All Palkot could do was tell viewers “you gotta believe” that the Iraqis would be concerned, and the troops would be interested, and so on. At least Fox gave it a try.

Hume also interviewed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a “hawk” on the war who has been calling for more troops all along. Then McCain sprinted over to CNN (actually in the same building in Washington) to talk to Larry King. Curiously, while McCain talked about the urgent matter of Iraq, the CNN news ticker along the bottom of the screen offered such dubious bulletins as “Kelsey Grammer to play Henry Higgins in New York concert version of ‘My Fair Lady’ in March.” Talk about your disconnects.

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More spring TCA stuff…

Lisa De Moreas in the Washington post uses Cow testicles as a colorful seague into the Spring TCA and then proceeds to highlight some of the more, shall we say, outrageous things that happened there…

And, saving best for last, the head of CNN Worldwide, Jim Walton, firmly believes CNN Voice of Wrath Nancy Grace stands for integrity, accuracy, class and timeliness, Walton says during a Q&A session with Larry King, who will celebrate his 50th anniversary on the air this year.

Reporters definitely choked on that one. One member of the press, giving voice to what was on everyone’s mind, asked, “Just to follow, to use your words, then, you think that Nancy Grace exemplifies integrity, accuracy and class.”

“Absolutely,” Walton responded, adding quickly, “You can choose to not agree with her point of view or what she’s saying. I’m not judge and jury, nor am I the morals police.”

Nancy Grace is immoral? How did I miss that memo?

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