Variety’s Michael Learmonth…

Cable news audiences grew broadly in January, driven by ratings gains for opinionated hosts helped by the Democratic takeover of Congress and a presidential field stocked with celebrities.

The highest-rated hour in cable news was the president’s State of the Union address, which drew 4.6 million total viewers to cable; 45 million watched one of the broadcast nets.

MSNBC had the biggest growth among cable news nets in January, up 75% in primetime and justification for its new tagline “the fastest-growing news channel.”

CNN also saw gains, but it’s increasingly a two-horse race for second to Fox News Channel as MSNBC posted its smallest gap with CNN in total viewers .

FNC marked its fifth year in first place in January, with total-viewer numbers essentially flat from the previous year. The network’s primetime lineup is up 9% over last year, averaging more than 1.9 million total viewers vs. 920,000 for CNN and 618,000 for MSNBC.

The Politico’s Anne Schroeder writes about what happened to Rita Cosby’s business card at the National Review Institute’s Conservative Summit…

When the evening concluded, the group retired to the hotel bar, where, our sources say, a doctored version of Rita Cosby’s business card was passed around, much to the amusement of late-night attendees. “FOR A GOOD TIME CALL …” was printed above Cosby’s contact information for her former program “Live & Direct,” in manuscript block letters.

Yes, Washington truly is like high school.

Cosby told Shenanigans: “I love my buddies at the National Review, but I’m sorry I missed this prom. It sounds like they needed a ‘good time!’ “

Extreme Mortman has the card. Or is it a facsimile?

FNC had a good night with Special Report, The Fox Report, and The O’Reilly Factor all having strong numbers.

Cable News Daily Ratings for January 29, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 941,000 viewers
CNN – 515,000 viewers
MSNBC – 294,000 viewers
CNBC – 239,000 viewers
HLN – 181,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,941,000 viewers
CNN – 724,000 viewers
MSNBC – 443,000 viewers
CNBC – 213,000 viewers
HLN – 373,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 285,000 viewers
CNN –191,000 viewers
MSNBC – 112,000 viewers
CNBC – 105,000 viewers
HLN – 71,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 490,000 viewers
CNN – 251,000 viewers
MSNBC – 167,000 viewers
CNBC – 123,000 viewers
HLN – 135,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 768,000 viewers (261,000)
American Morning – 440,000 viewers (218,000)
Imus in the Morning– 383,000 viewers (122,000)
Robin & Co. – 159,000 viewers (89,000)
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MSNBC issued a release on the January 2007 ratings…

MSNBC CONTINUES STRONG GROWTH TREND IN JANUARY WITH GREATEST SHARE OF PRIMETIME AUDIENCE AMONG VIEWERS 25-54 SINCE NOVEMBER 2001

MSNBC’S Primetime Adult Demographic Increases 78% Over A Year Ago, With Total Viewers Up 74%

“Countdown With Keith Olbermann” Handily Beats CNN For The Month, Earning A 36% Advantage in The Adult Demographic And An 11% Advantage In Total Viewers

SECAUCUS, NJ – January 30, 2007 – MSNBC continued its ratings surge in January, up more than any other cable network in primetime with a +78% increase over January 2006 in the adult 25-54 demographic (254,000 v. 143,000) and a +74% increase in total viewers (615,000 v. 353,000), according to Nielsen Media Research. The network also logged its greatest share of primetime audience for the month (22 share), since November 2001. In total day, MSNBC was up +53% over a year ago in the adult demographic (139,000 v. 91,000) and +40% in total viewers (334,000 v. 238,000), with the strongest growth of any cable network and the best total viewer delivery since September 2005.

“Countdown with Keith Olbermann” (8 p.m. ET) continued its ratings dominance, up a whopping +89% in the adult demo (283,000 v. 150,000) and +85% in total viewers (715,000 v. 387,000), with a +36% advantage over CNN in the demo and a +11% advantage in total viewers. While CNN was up +22% in the demo (208,000 v. 171,000), the network was down –8% in total viewers (643,000 v. 700,000). Fox News Channel was up only +6% in the demo (499,000 v. 472,000) and a mere +3% in total viewers (2,397,000 v. 2,327,000).
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FNC issued a release on the January 2007 ratings…

FOX NEWS CHANNEL MARKS FIVE YEARS AT NUMBER ONE
Network Kicks Off the Year Ranked Sixth In Primetime Basic Cable

FOX News Channel (FNC) marked five consecutive years as the number one cable news channel in January and ranked sixth overall in primetime basic cable, according to Nielsen Media Research. FNC has been the only cable network to take down a category leader in the modern television era.

During the month of January, FNC averaged 874,000 viewers (down 3%) in Total Day to CNN’s 521,000 (up 13%) and MSNBC’s 332,000 (up 39%). In Primetime, FNC beat the competition combined, garnering 1,605,000 viewers (up 8%), to CNN’s 809,000 viewers (up 12%) and MSNBC’s 530,000. (up 52%)*

In the 25-54 demo for the month of January, FNC again maintained its lead with a Primetime average of 389,000 (up 22% over January 2006), while CNN (260,000/up 29%) and MSNBC (217,000/up 45%) were locked in a heated battle for second place. In Total Day, FNC grew 11% in the key demo leading with an average of 262,000, while CNN garnered 186,000 (up 28%) and MSNBC attracted 138,000 (up 52%).*

FNC also captured ten of the top 12 shows in cable news during January. The O’Reilly Factor remained the most watched program in the genre with 2,424,000 viewers. Rounding out the top five were Hannity & Colmes with 1,706,000 viewers and The Fox Report with Shepard Smith at 1375,000. Special Report w/ Brit Hume and On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren tied for fifth place with each program averaging 1,319,000 viewers. Larry King clocked in with 1,025,000 viewers and remained CNN’s only program in the top ten and the network’s only showing with more than one million viewers for the month.
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Here is a Jan ‘07 vs. Jan ‘06 ratings comparison for the cable news channels…
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Here’s the basic cable channel ranker for January…
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Hannity’s America was big for FNC Sunday. It had 1,376,000 Total Viewers and 408,000 Demo viewers. The show was up 40% in total viewers and 113% in demo viewers vs. the same day last year.

Cable News Ratings for January 27, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 707,000 viewers
CNN – 505,000 viewers
MSNBC – 268,000 viewers
CNBC – 327,000 viewers
HLN – 240,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 881,000 viewers
CNN – 657,000 viewers
MSNBC – 371,000 viewers
CNBC – 382,000 viewers
HLN – 217,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 215,000 viewers
CNN – 193,000 viewers
MSNBC – 120,000 viewers
CNBC – 114,000 viewers
HLN – 100,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 222,000 viewers
CNN – 194,000 viewers
MSNBC – 148,000 viewers
CNBC – 123,000 viewers
HLN – 65,000 viewers

Cable News Ratings for January 28, 2007
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FNC seems to be having trouble making up its mind about what Joe Lieberman is…

Joe Lieberman; Democratic Senator?

Or, Joseph Lieberman; Independent Senator?

I guess the graphics department needs to flush those old lower thirds…

Slate’s Jack Shafer writes about the story by deconstructing the Wall Street Journal’s articles on the story…

Delineating a friendship that includes a trans-Pacific flight alone in a corporate jet, an apparently significant sighting in an expensive restaurant, and a dressing down in which a corporate executive is told to reduce his contact with his friend of the opposite sex, all but draws the doughnut and tosses the hot dog through it. On Jan. 26, the Journal rehashes some of the Thomson-Bartiromo story, referring to their jet trip home from Asia, their “friendship,” and their “relationship” (twice). The story breaks new ground in reporting that Thomson tried and failed to get Bartiromo on his jet more than a year ago, while entertaining clients in Montana.

You can almost hear the Journal reporters snicker when they write that CNBC insisted that any jet trips taken by Bartiromo “fell under the ’source development’ section of its code of ethics.” Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more!

Having dumped the compost, planted the seed, and fertilized and watered the earth, the Journal leaves it to nobody’s imagination what species the flowering Thomson-Bartiromo friendship, relationship, and contact is without actually coming out and writing anything that 1) they can’t prove and 2) invites a libel suit. This is the sort of copy a clever lawyer directs reporters to write when they “know” something but can’t prove it. Leave it to the reader to assemble the meaning of the facts in their minds, the wise libel attorney tells his clients.

USA Today’s Del Jones writes about the story but doesn’t advance the story any.

News of Bartiromo’s trademark application follows reports last week by the New York Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others about Citigroup’s decision to fire executive Todd Thomson, 45, for running up lavish expenses on the corporate account that included a $5 million sponsorship of a TV program on the Sundance Channel that was to be hosted by Bartiromo.

They also reported that Thomson bumped three other executives off the Citigroup corporate jet, causing them to fly commercial to make room on the Gulfstream for Bartiromo to travel with Thomson on a 16-hour flight from Asia.

The journalism ethics of Bartiromo and CNBC have been called into question. CNBC has defended the flight as an opportunity for Bartiromo to develop sources and said Bartiromo received advance approval and that CNBC reimbursed Citigroup for the flight.

Yesterday CNBC opened its new Silicon Valley bureau. The bureau, where Jim Goldman gives daily updates, is broadcasting from NBC O&O KNTV NBC 11’s studios which also serves as the home of the local Telemundo station (though the Telemundo newscasts now originate out of L.A. thanks to NBCU 2.0 cuts).

The New York Post’s Janet Whitman and Roddy Boyd write about Maria Bartiromo trying to get her own show…

Bartiromo is in talks with the network about launching her own branded TV show, following a format used by people like Charlie Rose and Bill Moyers.

The move coincides with her filing at least eight applications to trademark her Wall Street pet name, the “Money Honey,” which sources stressed may not signal the name of a show.

“She’s pitching it to the network,” said one source. “There’s no guarantee that if it were ever developed that ‘Money Honey’ would even be a part of it.”

Anybody catch what exactly Don Imus was going off on Bill O’Reilly over this morning? I just caught the tail end of it but I don’t know what the “it” was…

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gail Shister writes about the bruhaha…

Latest volley in the verbal jihad between the cable rivals is an FNC ad in trade journal Television Week blasting CNN golden boy Anderson Cooper as “the Paris Hilton of television news.”

Responded CNN president Jonathan Klein, “It’s a sign of desperation to resort to infantile name calling.”

The magazine hit the stands yesterday. Cooper is not seen or named in the two-page spread, but he’s the target.

A silver-haired man with his back to readers stands to the left (get it?) of such wet-kiss phrases as “style over substance,” “endless hype” and “media darling.”

UPDATE: An FNC spokesperson explained to ICN that Shister misquoted the figures today – Anderson is in fact 17th for the month, not 7th.

The New York Post’s Don Kaplan writes that Rita Cosby’s voice has changed. I didn’t see Rita yesterday so I don’t know exactly what he’s referring to.

Cosby declined to say what exactly she’d done to get her voice back.

But she did say that she had been to a see a doctor before her three weeks off the radar.

“There’s nothing like going to the doctor and getting a prescription that includes an enforced vacation (I went to Mexico), getting some vocal rest, and coming back with a tan to this arctic weather,” Cosby told the Post yesterday in a prepared statement.

“I am getting so many compliments about my voice, I intend to keep it this way. . . Thanks for noticing how energetic my voice sounds.”

The New York Times’ Allessandra Stanley reviews the new FNC Sunday night program. Of course I knew she’d pan the program. But she’s doing it in an unorthodox manner…

This Sunday night talk show, led by Sean Hannity, the conservative radio and television personality, may look like the kind of ultrapatriotic, Blame-the-Clintons-First program that is the lifeblood of Fox News. But it’s more likely a secular progressive front, a sleeper show sending dangerous hidden messages to the enemy.

Underneath the flag-waving swagger, Mr. Hannity’s show is riddled with leftist subliminal suggestion and degrading, un-American images of violence and pornography. Last Sunday Mr. Hannity toured the Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada and stood over two prostitutes lolling on a bed in skimpy lingerie, their hands placed between their legs, and asked them if they believed in God.

“Every week we will bring you a different side of the country you love,” Mr. Hannity promised on the show’s premiere on Jan. 7. Mostly, however, he seems to be exposing the worst excesses of godless capitalism.