IN FEBRUARY CNN GROWS 55% IN M-F PRIMETIME COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO, THE MOST OF ANY CABLE NEWS NETWORK

CNN OVERTAKES MSNBC AT 10 PM AND IN TOTAL DAY;

Piers Morgan Tonight is Up 50% vs. a Year Ago;

John King, USA Has Best Month Since Launch;

FNC has Double Digit Declines throughout February

TRAFFIC TO CNN.com WAS UP GLOBALLY 10% YEAR OVER YEAR

 

CNN

 

During the month of February, CNN had the most growth of any cable news network in M-F primetime compared to a year ago, increasing an impressive +55% in the key demo 25-54 (243k vs. 157k) while MSNBC grew only +8% (265k vs. 246k) and FNC lost viewers, decreasing -14% (575k vs. 666k).  In total viewers, CNN also had most growth in primetime increasing +31% (766k vs. 583k) vs. a year ago, MSNBC grew +18% (995k vs. 842k) and FNC declined -12% (2.322m vs. 2.649m).

In addition, CNN’S AC 360 overtook MSNBC at 10 pm in February and CNN topped MSNBC in total day in the demo 25-54 and among total viewers for the first time since June 2010. In total day, CNN posted 159k in the key demo 25-54, an increase of +19% from last year (134k) and averaged 484k in total viewers, a rise of +3% (468k).  MSNBC placed third in total day in the demo (146k) and in total viewers (450k).

Throughout each hour of primetime (M-F), CNN posted big gains compared to a year ago.  While CNN overtook MSNBC at 10 pm, the network significantly narrowed the gap with MSNBC at 8 pm and 9 pm compared to 4^th quarter averages.  FNC had double digit declines throughout primetime.

At 10 pm: 

• Anderson Cooper topped MSNBC at 10 pm for the first time since June 2010, with AC 360 averaging 305k compared to MSNBC The Ed Show’s 234k in the demo 25-54.  In total viewers, Cooper also topped Ed Schultz with 855k vs. MSNBC’s 827k.
• Anderson Cooper is up +83% in the demo 25-54 compared to a year ago (305k vs. 167k), Shultz increased +41% (234k vs. 166k), and FNC’s Greta Van Susteren was the only network to lose viewers at 10pm, decreasing -13% (406k vs. 466k). 
• AC 360 is also up +55% in total viewers compared to a year ago (855k vs. 550k), MSNBC is up +53% and FNC is down -12%.
• During the 4^th quarter, the demo gap between AC 360 (205k) and MSNBC (258k) was -8% — today, Cooper (305k) has overtaken The Ed Show (234k) with a +30% advantage (data does not include MSNBC Investigates/Lock Up episodes when that programming aired on Fridays at 10 pm).

 

At 9 pm: 

• Piers Morgan Tonight is up +50% in the demo 25-54 compared to a year ago (237k vs. 158k), growing more than MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow who is up +39% (302k vs. 217k), while FNC’s Hannity is down -10% (559k vs. 620k). 
• Piers Morgan is also up +21% in total viewers compared to a year ago (812k vs. 672k), MSNBC is up +34% and Hannity is off -11%.
• Piers Morgan is top rated among younger viewers (adults 18-34), increasing +78% from a year ago (66k vs. 37k), while MSNBC was down -21% (52k vs. 66k) and FNC declined -27% (60k vs. 82k).
• During the 4^th quarter, the demo gap between CNN’s Larry King (169k) and Maddow (285k) was -41% — today, the gap between Piers Morgan (237k) and Maddow (302k) is just -22%.
• Launch-to-date (January 17-February 25) Piers Morgan is averaging 235k in the key demo (an increase of +28%) and 787k in total viewers, up +11% compared to the same period a year ago.

At 8 pm: 

• In February, CNN was up +27% in the demo 25-54 compared to the same period a year ago (186k vs. 146k), while MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell was down -9% compared to Keith Olbermann during the same period last year (235k vs. 258k).  FNC’s O’Reilly was also down -14% vs. a year ago (775k vs. 906k). 
• CNN is also up +20% in total viewers compared to a year ago (631k vs. 527k), O’Donnell is up just +7% and O’Reilly is down -12%.
• During the 4^th quarter, the gap between CNN (135k) and Keith Olbermann (286k) was -53% in the demo — today, the gap between CNN at 8 pm (186k) vs. Lawrence O’Donnell (235k) is now just -21%.

At 7 pm, John King, USA is also up in February, increasing +20% in the demo 25-54 (177k vs. 148k) compared to a year ago. This represents King’s best month since launch (March 2010) with 559k in total viewers; up 28% vs. January. 

At 5 pm, CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer increased +43% in the demo (196k vs. 137k) and +9% in total viewers (714k vs.653k) compared to last year.  FNC’s Glenn Beck is experiencing big declines compared to a year ago – decreasing -32% in the key demo 25-54 (513k vs. 753k) and has declined -26% in total viewers (2.084m vs. 2.833m).  In addition, the Situation Room at 6 pm is up +43% in the demo (199k vs. 139k) and increased +13% in total viewers (647k vs. 574k), while FNC’s Bret Baier declined -12% in the demo (468k vs. 533k) and is off -11% in total viewers vs. a year ago (2.206m vs.2.469m).

In February, CNN topped MSNBC during the daytime (9am-5pm) in both the key demo 25-54 and among total viewers.  In head-to-head comparisons with MSNBC’s daytime non-opinion programming CNN more than doubled (+108%) MSNBC in the key demo (173k vs. 83k) and held a 60% lead in total viewers (589k vs. 367k).  MSNBC trailed CNN every hour during the daytime in the demo and total viewers.

CNN reached a cumulative audience of 91.0 million viewers in February, FNC lagged behind with 79.8 million and MSNBC averaged 76.1 million.

CNN Digital:

In February, traffic to CNN.com was up globally 10% year over year. 

• ·       Breaking News:  The revolutions in Egypt and Libya drove traffic to CNN.com. 
  • ·       During the first three days of Feb. traffic to CNN.com increased 17% daily over the prior 4-week average.
  • ·       Libya coverage also boosted traffic.  On Mon., Feb. 21st, traffic to CNN.com was up 55% over the prior 4-Sunday average and up 6% over the last holiday-Monday’s traffic (January 17, 2011).

[Source: Omniture Site Catalyst, Domestic and International. Year-over-year claim based on average daily for February 1-27 compared to last year’s average daily for the same time period.]

• ·       Video:  Total global video starts (VOD + Live) were up by 30% and live video starts were up by 20% over 4Q10 levels largely as a result of video related to the revolutions in Egypt and Libya. 

[Source: Omniture Site Catalyst, Domestic and International.  Comparisons based on average daily data for February 1-27 and average daily for Oct.1-Dec.31, 2010 for Q410.]

• ·       Features: Feature content also helped drive traffic to CNN.com in Feb., with several sections showing double-digit percentage gains over last Feb. 
  • ·       Tech increased by 18% with nearly 1 million page views per day during the month. 
  • ·       Opinion increased 51% with half a million page views per day.  
  • ·       Health increased 46% with 860 thousand daily page views.  
  • ·       Living increased 66% with 800 thousand page views per day.
• ·       Blog Traffic:  Altogether, blog traffic in Feb. accounted for 97 million page views.  Joining This Just In and the Political Ticker in the top five were The Marquee (Entertainment), The Chart (Health) and Belief Blog (religion).
  • ·       Belief Blog increased 130% over last month’s performance due to a story about Chick-fil-A with 900 thousand page views and a high-school wrestler refusing to wrestle a female with 603 thousand page views. 

[Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, Domestic and International.  Note: Year-ago comparisons were not possible for the Belief Blog as it had not launched yet.  All month-end data for February 2011 is based on average daily for February 1-27, 2011 and is compared to time periods with data expressed in a comparable manner.  Blog traffic cumulative total for month through 3 p.m. February 28, 2011]