CNN vs. MSNBC in Sales Prime…
MSNBC is noting, and not without reason, its Sales Prime Demo victory over CNN in July. But it’s also worth noting how MSNBC scored the win. Here is a chart of MSNBC’s top 25 programs by Demo for July…
Not one of these programs is a live news program and most of them are To Catch A Predator repeats. The only live news program MSNBC airs that is competitive with CNN is Countdown and not one of Countdown’s episodes cracked the top 25 for the network. Which suggests that MSNBC is beating CNN in the Sales Prime Demo with Crime Docs and not live news programs.
Still, a win is a win and it can’t sound good that CNN, which airs more live news hours than MSNBC, is getting beaten in Sales Prime’s Demo by tape. It’s also worth noting that CNN is going to be expanding its documentary portfolio. Perhaps CNN will be fighting fire with fire?
Wow…MSNBC’s program table looks like Spike TV’s schedule or something…definitely not one of a “news network”.
MSNBC: Your #1 stop for the latest predator news. :(
Comment by Anonymous — July 31, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
Well, despite how embarrassing I think it is of MSNBC to tout a win using the DOCBLOCK, a win is a win as Spud said. Sad that people want to watch pervs get caught by Chris Hanson than opinion/news analysis or hard news program
Comment by Edward Schatz — July 31, 2007 @ 3:37 pm
Just so everybody is on the same page, Sales Prime is a made up term coined by MSNBC for its’ own benefit. It has NO standing anywhere else except as an internal selling tool for MSNBC.
Comment by AlDugan — July 31, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
Instead of calling MSNBC the “NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY network,” I need to start saying the “DOCUMENTARY AND NEWS network. Note that “PRIME” goes from 8pm-11pm, but “SALES PRIME” goes from 7pm-2am. Does anyone know how A&E, History, Discovery, Animal Planet, and others like them do in PRIME and SALES PRIME?
Comment by erljr — July 31, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
And 18-34? Keep on and eventually they’ll only be reporting numbers in the 18-24 year old females who date Keith Olbermann category.
Comment by Alison — July 31, 2007 @ 4:35 pm
“And 18-34? Keep on and eventually they’ll only be reporting numbers in the 18-24 year old females who date Keith Olbermann category.”
Actually nobody cares about that demographic. The demographic everyone WANTS, for some reason, is 18-34 year old males. Why? Because they are the LEAST likely to be watching television. (Presumably they have lives, I guess.) So because they’re rare, they’re valuable.
I think this is sort of a stupid calculus, personally - if sh*t were rare, would it become valuable? Well, fertilizer, sure, but come on…
You would think advertisers would grab the people where they ARE and stop looking for them where they’re not; use TV to find the more sedentary demos (such as, alas, myself) and find the young males, oh, I don’t know - with comic book ads? on the menus in sports bars?
Comment by Arthur — July 31, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Figures lie and liars figure… which describes both MSNBC’s description of the win, and CNN’s little chart posted above.
You can always find a number of stat to make yourself look good, or someone else look bad.
Comment by Don — July 31, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
This explains Dan’s congratulation memos. Again, how is he the General Manager.
Comment by Alix — July 31, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
“Still, a win is a win and it can’t sound good that CNN, which airs more live news hours than MSNBC, is getting beaten in Sales Prime’s Demo by tape.”
Yes, and these docs are also beating MSNBC’s OWN news programming.
Also, O’Reilly pointed out that his 4 a.m. rerun STILL beats each and every one of MSNBC’s programs, even in the “key” demo (his words).
Comment by Missy — August 1, 2007 @ 12:37 am
Spud you need to send this list to Variety which is announcing that Olbermann and the new show hosted by Abrams were “part of the reason why” for their ratings gains. I have to give it to them, if nothing else they are able to get their breathless little PR releases accepted wholesale, by the media, without question. Your list really shows WHY and no one (except you) is asking questions about HOW they are able to score these ratings and what kinds of programming did it for them (not their live news).
Comment by Alison — August 1, 2007 @ 8:26 am
Alison, the Variety article refers to a different demographic…Total Viewers. My list refers to Demo viewers. Big difference. In this case Countdown, and even Abrams, play a much bigger role in the outcome.
Comment by Spud — August 1, 2007 @ 10:36 am