Spin control…
FishbowlDC has a CNN release touting a record ratings draw for the 18-34 Demo…
CNN continues the trend of record-breaking debates with Monday night’s CNN/YouTube Debate posting the highest P18-34 delivery in cable news history.
18-34 Demo? Where did that come from? I hadn’t even heard of an 18-34 Demo before reading this. 25-54? Yes. 18-49? Yes. But 18-34? No. (see UPDATE)
Speaking of 18-49, CNN was down 21% from the last Democratic debate in New Hampshire. I had decided not to relay that number yesterday when I brought out the comparison in P2+ and P25-54 with the last debate because I thought the 18-49 Demo was too restrictive and not worth noting.
But then I saw this 18-34 Demo and thought, ok, if CNN is going to spin 18-34 as some big victory then I’m going to point out that they were down in 18-49. I believe if CNN had been up in 18-49, they would have gone with that number instead of 18-34.
CNN/YouTube Debate - 663,000 18-49 Viewers
New Hampshire Debate - 836,000 18-49 Viewers
(numbers are Live)
UPDATE: After thinking about it for a while, I have to admit that yes I have indeed heard of the 18-34 Demo. But it’s so rarely mentioned in the press that you could be excused for not having heard of it.
Yeah but what about the 18-19 demo or the 39.5 to 40.2 demo? What are those numbers?
Comment by Mary Snow — July 25, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I believe if CNN had been up in 18-49, they would have gone with that number instead of 18-34.
Without a doubt, CNN would have preferred to tout the 18-49 demo, instead of using an MTV related demo range. I’m not surprised as many older people may have been skeptical of the format and not tuned it at all. Also after watching for a few minutes, people likely tuned out.
Comment by Buck — July 25, 2007 @ 11:12 am
If CNN had lost the 25-54 or P2+, I could see how touting this obscure fact might seem lame. However, last time I checked, CNN “cleaned up” in all demos. Oh right, and we can’t very well compare these numbers to FNC’s dem debate, eh?
Comment by Terance — July 25, 2007 @ 11:40 am
CNN is taking a page from the MSNBC playbook. They didn’t need to. There is really nothing to compare this to. It was a first try at a totally new concept. Whoever tries this next time, if it’s CNN or someone else, is going to vastly improve on the formula, learn from the mistakes.
They got tons of buzz and they beat all of the competition that night. They got kudos from me and others for trying something totally new. Why do they feel the need to spin it to make it appear a tiny bit better. They insult our intelligence.
Comment by erljr — July 25, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
#4 CNN is not spinning anything.The source for those
numbers come from Yahoo.They released all of the demos.
Guess what the link they are using is being provided by
no other than TVN.I am with you on this one man.These
journalists these days are way too lazy.I don’t think
CNN they are taking a page from TVN.Doe’s the origianl
Yahoo say anything about a spokesman.
Comment by future tv mogul — July 25, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
Wow! TVN sure has changed its tune and yanked
the chart showing all of the debate ratings.
Comment by future tv mogul — July 25, 2007 @ 5:56 pm