CNN Press Room

CNN Beats MSNBC for 41st Straight Month in November

CNN Ranks Top 10 in All of Cable for Fourth Straight Month 

2017 Pacing to be CNN’s Highest Ratings on Record and Youngest Audience in Nine Years

CNN once again surpassed MSNBC in Total Day, daytime and on weekends for the month of November among adults 25-54.  CNN has now bested MSNBC in Total Day for 41 straight months in the key demographic 25-54 (229k vs. 211k), the longest monthly streak since 2010.

CNN also beat MSNBC by wide margins throughout daytime programming, averaging a +29% advantage in the key demo (244k vs. 189k).  All of CNN’s daytime programs posted higher demo 25-54 audiences than MSNBC’s. CNN has now topped MSNBC during the daytime hours (9am-4pm) for 45 straight months among 25-54.

In addition, CNN easily outperformed MSNBC during weekend programming in both Total Day (191k vs. MSNBC’s 130k) and prime time (233k vs. MSNBC’s 133k). MSNBC ranked third in weekend Total Day and prime time.

In November, CNN beat MSNBC for 16 out of 24 hours on weekdays, 22 out of 24 hours on Saturdays, and 24 out of 24 hours on Sundays among adults 25-54.  CNN ranked #1 in cable news every hour on Sundays from 1-8pm, 9pm-12am and 3-5am.

Key CNN programs such as Early Start with Christine Romans and Dave Briggs, The Lead with Jake Tapper, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Smerconish, Inside Politics with John King, State of the Union with Jake Tapper, Fareed Zakaria GPS and Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter all easily surpassed MSNBC this month, posting higher demo 25-54 audiences.

Among ALL cable networks, CNN ranked #9 among total viewers in Total Day.  This marks the fourth straight month that CNN is a Top 10 cable network among total viewers in Total Day.

Of Note;

When comparing to a year ago, please note for context, the presidential election was last November where CNN had unprecedented and record-high viewership including the most-watched Election Night in cable news history among both adults 25-54 and total viewers.

CNN Original Series and Films:

CNN Original Series continued to post strong ratings during the month of November:

CNN Films:  Anthony Bourdain Presents:  Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent premiere (11/12/17) ranked #1 among adults 25-54 across cable news in its time period.

CNN November Exclusives/Firsts:

This month, CNN correspondents and reporters reported the following news exclusives/firsts:

11/20/17  Whitefish is halting Puerto Rico power repairs, claiming it’s owed $83 million, By Leyla Santiago, Khushba Shah and Rachel Clarke

11/20/17  We surveyed 112 Puerto Rican funeral homes to check the accuracy of the hurricane toll. This is what we found. Leyla Santiago, John D. Sutter and Khushbu Shah

11/16/17  Exclusive: Steyer’s latest $10M anti-Trump ad buy takes aim at GOP tax plan, By Eric Bradner

11/16/17  First on CNN: New George H.W. Bush accuser says he groped her during 1992 re-election campaign, By Athena Jones

11/14/17  Rohingya Muslims risk lives to cross border, By Clarissa Ward

11/13/17  CNN Exclusive: Attorney for Gloria Deason, one of Roy Moore’s accusers: ‘We will never be quiet again.  Not ever again’ By Don Lemon

11/13/17  First on CNN: Trump admin taking quiet steps on seizing border land, report says, By Tal Kopan

11/12/17  Binali Yildirim, Prime Minister of Turkey on former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn & extradition attempts for Fethullah Gülen By Fareed Zakaria

11/10/17  Exclusive: Melania Trump reflects on Asia trip and the past year, By Kate Bennett

11/9/17    CNN: Mueller interviews top White House aide, By Pamela Brown, Gloria Borger and Evan Perez

11/2/17    ‘House of Cards’ employees allege sexual harassment, assault by Kevin Spacey, By Chloe Melas

11/2/17    Exclusive: Carter Page testifies he told Sessions about Russia trip, By Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb

11/2/17    First on CNN: Ivanka Trump nods to ‘womenomics’ in Japan, By Betsy Klein

Year-to-Date:

Year-to-date, 2017 is pacing to be CNN’s highest year on record in Total Day among total viewers and adults 25-54. 2017 is also pacing to be CNN’s second largest audience since 2008 in prime time among 25-54 and total viewers.  New Day with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota, The Lead with Jake Tapper, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett Outfront, Anderson Cooper 360 and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon are all on track to have their highest adults 25-54 and total viewer deliveries on record this year.

Median Age:

Year-to-date, CNN continues to attract an audience that is five years younger than Fox News and MSNBC in total day, and seven years younger than Fox News and six years younger than MSNBC in prime time.  CNN is tracking at its youngest yearly median age since 2008 in Total Day, while MSNBC is at its oldest on record.

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