New Day and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon
Have Best April Ratings Ever
Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter Ranks #1 in Cable News on Sundays at 11am for Second Straight Month
CNN Ranks as a Top 10 Network in All of Cable for Fourth Straight Month
CNN once again surpassed MSNBC in total day, daytime and on weekends this month among adults 25-54. In total day, CNN has now topped MSNBC for 46 straight months in the key demographic 25-54 (224k vs. 216k), the longest monthly streak since January 2010.
In dayside, CNN dominated MSNBC for a record breaking 50 consecutive months among the coveted demographic adults 25-54 in April (207k vs. 184k). All of CNN’s day time programs (from 10am-4pm) posted higher 25-54 audiences than MSNBC.
CNN also easily outperformed MSNBC during weekend programming in both total day (197k vs. MSNBC’s 130k) and prime time (260k vs. MSNBC’s 144k) among adults 25-54. CNN also beat MSNBC in total viewers in total day (677k vs. 593k) and in prime time (918k vs. 794k) on weekends. CNN topped MSNBC for 20 out of 24 hours on Saturdays and for 24 out of 24 hours on Sundays among adults 25-54.
Key program highlights:
- New Day with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota (6a-9a) had its best April ratings performance ever in total viewers (625k) and second-best among adults 25-54 (204k), following 2017.
- The Lead with Jake Tapper (4pm) had its second-highest April on record among total viewers (928k) following April 2017 and third highest among adults 25-54 (251k). The Tapper-led program also topped MSNBC in the key demo 25-54 at 4pm.
- The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer (5pm & 6pm) had its third highest April on record among adults 25-54 and easily topped MSNBC at both 5pm (267k vs. MSNBC’s 251k) and at 6pm (292k vs. MSNBC’s 278k).
- Erin Burnett Outfront (7pm) had its third highest April delivery ever in total viewers (989k) and adults 25-54 (332k).
- Anderson Cooper 360 (8pm) also had its third highest April ratings ever in total viewers (1.117 million) and among 25-54 (356k) at 8pm. AC 360 delivered CNN’s highest total viewership in April (1.117 million).
- CNN Tonight with Don Lemon (10pm) had its best April ratings ever in total viewers (1.087 million) and second highest among adults 25-54 (377k) behind only April 2017. CNN Tonight delivered CNN’s highest demo 25-54 delivery in April (377k).
CNN’s Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter ranked #1 in cable news at 11am on Sundays for the second consecutive month among adults 25-54 (282k). The Stelter-led media program topped Fox News’ Media Buzz by +11% (253k) and MSNBC’s AM Joy by +36% (207k). State of the Union with Jake Tapper also ranked #1 at noon among adults 25-54 with 273k, Fox News followed with 244k and MSNBC had 169k.
Other key CNN programs such as Early Start with Christine Romans and Dave Briggs, CNN Newsroom with John Berman, (10am), At This Hour with Kate Bolduan, Inside Politics with John King, Wolf, CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, Smerconish, CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield, The Van Jones Show, State of the Union with Jake Tapper (9am), Fareed Zakaria GPS and New Day on weekends all easily surpassed MSNBC this month, posting higher demo 25-54 audiences.
CNN Original Series continued to post strong ratings during the month of April:
- American Dynasties: The Kennedys which concluded its six-episode run in April (3/11- 4/15/18), was the most-watched CNN Original Series ever among total viewers. Every episode ranked #1 in its time period in both total viewers and adults 25-54, outperforming the combined delivery of MSNBC and Fox News. The series averaged 2.053 million in total viewers and 540k among adults 25-54.
- Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History registered 351k among 25-54 and 1.28 million total viewers across the six-Sunday premiere episodes this season (3/11-4/15/18). Pope ranked either #1 or #2 in the time period across every episode among adults 25-54. The series was the third most watched CNN Original Series on record among total viewers.
- Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World averaged 177k among 25-54 and 651k in total viewers across the six-Saturday premiere episodes this season (3/17-4/21/18). The series ranked #2 in cable news among adults 25-54, outperforming MSNBC by double digits. Versus the prior four weeks, the series posted the largest growth in cable news in both 25-54 and total viewers.
All of Cable:
Among ALL cable networks, CNN ranked #7 in total day in total viewer delivery, marking the fourth straight month that CNN is a Top 10 cable network.
Median Age:
Year-to-date, CNN attracts an audience that is five years younger than Fox News and four years younger than MSNBC in total day. In prime time, CNN is four years younger than Fox News and five years younger than MSNBC. MSNBC is tracking at its oldest yearly median age on record in total day (tied with 2017).
Out-of-Home Viewing:
2018-to-date in total day, CNN averaged a +4.3% lift with Out-of-Home 25-54 viewers. Among ALL reportable Out-of-Home cable networks, CNN ranked #4 with 25-54 viewers gained (+10k), behind only ESPN (+24k) and TBS & TNT tied for 2nd (+11k)
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