CNN Press Room

CNN Beats MSNBC for 18th Straight Quarter in Key Demo

cnncaitlinschu

HAS THIRD-BEST 3Q ON RECORD IN TOTAL VIEWERS

 

CNN Tonight with Don Lemon has Highest Quarter on Record

New Day and The Lead with Jake Tapper have Second-Highest 3Q on Record

The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett Outfront, and Anderson Cooper 360 have Third-Highest 3Q on Record

 

Cuomo Prime Time is CNN’s Highest-Rated News Program in 3Q;

Delivers the Network’s Second-Highest 9pm 3Q Viewership Since 2001

 

 CNN Ranks as a Top 10 Network in All of Cable for Ninth Quarter

 

THIRD QUARTER 2018:

With the third quarter 2018 ending on Sunday, September 30th, CNN once again surpassed MSNBC in total day and daytime among adults 25-54.  CNN has now outperformed MSNBC for 18 straight quarters in total day in the key demographic 25-54 (214k vs. MSNBC’s 197k), the longest quarterly streak since 2Q 2010.  In dayside, CNN dominated MSNBC for the 24th consecutive quarter among the coveted demographic adults 25-54 (208k vs. MSNBC’s 177k).

CNN also topped MSNBC on weekends in total day and prime time among both total viewers and adults 25-54 this quarter.  In total day, CNN averaged 618k vs. MSNBC’s 594k in total viewers and 177k vs. MSNBC’s 117k among adults 25-54.  In weekend prime time, CNN posted 728k vs. MSNBC’s 672k among total viewers and 238k vs. MSNBC’s 121k in 25-54. On Saturdays, CNN delivered higher demo 25-54 audiences than MSNBC for 23 out of 24 hours and for 24 out of 24 hours on Sundays.  CNN ranked #1 in cable news among adults 25-54 on Saturdays from 1-6pm and on Sundays in the 12pm hour and every hour from 2-8pm and 9pm-2am.

CNN finished out the quarter with near record-high viewership in both total viewers and adults 25-54.  CNN had its third-best 3Q on record in total day among total viewers (726k) and third-best in 10 years (since 2008) among adults 25-54 (214k) – just after 2017 and 2016.  The network also had its third-highest 3Q prime time performance in 10 years (since 2008) in total viewers (1.048 million) and adults 25-54 (342k), also following 2017 and 2016.  In daytime, CNN posted its third-highest 3Q on record in total viewers (831k) – after 1995 and 2017 and third-highest 3Q in 13 years (since 2005) among adults 25-54 (208k) – just after 2017 and 2016.  CNN Tonight with Don Lemon is having its highest quarter on record among total viewers, while the morning (New Day) and all of CNN’s late afternoon and other prime time programs are having near 3Q record-high deliveries this quarter, just after 2017 and/or 2016.

Among ALL cable networks, CNN ranked #5 in total viewers in total day this quarter.  This marks the ninth straight quarter and longest quarterly streak in over 22 years (since 4Q 1995) that CNN is a Top 10 cable network among total viewers in total day. In M-F prime time, CNN ranked #7 in total viewers.

Third Quarter 2018 News Program Highlights:   

Other CNN programs such as Early Start with Dave Briggs and Christine Romans, CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto (9-11am), At This Hour with Kate Bolduan (11am), Inside Politics with John King (noon), Wolf (1pm), CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin (2-4pm), Smerconish (Sat. 9am), New Day Weekend (Sat/Sun), SE Cupp Unfiltered (Sat. 6pm) The Van Jones Show/The Axe Files with David Axelrod (Sat. 7pm) all easily surpassed MSNBC this month, posting higher demo 25-54 audiences. CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield (Sat/Sun, 2-3pm), CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera (Sat/Sun, 3-6pm) ranked #1 in cable news this quarter among the 25-54 demo easily topping both Fox News and MSNBC.

On Sunday mornings, Inside Politics with John King (8am) State of the Union with Jake Tapper (9am), Fareed Zakaria GPS (10am) and Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter (11am) all ranked #2 in cable news in their respective time periods, ahead of MSNBC among adults 25-54. The 12pm edition of State of the Union ranked #1 in cable news among adults 25-54 with 220k, Fox News followed with 199k and MSNBC had 154k. SOTU has now ranked #1 across cable news for five of the past seven quarters.

Third Quarter 2018 Original Series and CNN Films Highlights:

 

Third Quarter Tracker by Year:

 

 

 

MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2018:

CNN had its third-highest September in 13 years (since 2005) among total viewers (808k) and among adults 25-54 (234k) just after 2008 and 2017.

CNN beat MSNBC in total day demo 25-54 for the 51st straight month (234k vs. 212k), the longest monthly streak since January 2010.

CNN beat MSNBC dayside for the 55th straight month (242k vs. 195k), the longest monthly streak on record.

Other monthly highlights include:

 

Month of September Tracker by Year:

 

 

Third Quarter Out-of-Home Viewing

Third quarter-to-date in total day among adults 25-54, CNN is averaging a +6.3% lift with Out-of-Home viewers. Among ALL reportable Out-of-Home cable networks, CNN ranks #2 with +13k adults 25-54 Out-of-Home viewers, behind only ESPN (+19k).

Digital-to-TV Lift

For the Ford/Kavanaugh hearing on Thursday (9/27/18) CNN Digital viewing added a 12.4% lift to the CNN TV total viewer average audience for the 10am-7pm coverage block which is 10.2 percentage points higher than the August 2018 average of 2.2% and 10.5 percentage points higher than the YTD average of 1.9%.

 

###