Cable Gains On Broadcast Rivals During DNC's First Night
CNN Trails Only NBC Overall; Fox News, MSNBC Double 2004 Viewer Performance
By Mike Reynolds & Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 8/26/2008 3:08:00 PM
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6590607.html?desc=topstory
When it came to viewing Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic
National Convention, cable almost doubled its audience base, while the
Big 3 broadcast networks lost almost 10% from the same period four years
ago.
Led by 4.27 million viewers from CNN, which trailed only NBC, cable’s
primary news networks averaged 9.28 million watchers during 10 p.m. to
11 p.m., when Michelle Obama delivered her speech. That compared with 5
million collective viewers on average during that hour from the first
night of the 2004 DNC, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
Collectively, the Big 3, which only covered the Obama speech on Aug. 25,
saw their audience decline 9.6% to 12.2 million from 13.5 million.
Some 2.92 million viewers watched Mrs. Obama on Fox News Channel, while
MSNBC averaged 2.09 million. CNN scored a 68% advance from the 2.55
million in 2004, while Fox News (up 102% from 1.44 million) and MSNBC
(ahead 107% from 1.01 million) both doubled their performance from that
period during the 2004 DNC.
Among adults 25 to 54, CNN also finished second among all news
competitors in the 10 p.m. hour, averaging 1.57 million of those
watchers. That trailed the 2.02 million for NBC with the key news demo,
but edged ABC’s 1.54 million. CBS was next with 1.48 million of those
watchers, followed by 894,000 for MSNBC and 862,000 for Fox News.
During primetime, CNN averaged 3.7 million viewers, an 85% surge from
just over 2 million on the first night of the DNC in 2004. Fox News grew
84% to 3.02 million from 1.64 million, as MSNBC rose 88% to 2.15 million
from 1.14 million. In the target demo, CNN scored a 127% jump to 1.37
million from 601,000. MSNBC climbed 122% to 847,000 from 382,000,
finishing ahead of Fox, which posted a 42% gain to 776,000 from 546,000
from the same night four years ago.
From 7 p.m. to midnight (ET), CNN officials said the network’s live
coverage from Denver was watched by nearly 3 million viewers and 1.1
million adults 25 to 54 viewers Fox News was the choice for 2.6 million
total viewers and 670,000 in the demo, while MSNBC had 1.9 million total
watchers and 736,000 of the news set on average.
According to Nielsen, more than 17.1 million households (a collective
15.1 national rating) tuned into CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the Big 3
broadcast networks, plus TV One and BET..
