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CNN Posts Big Gains in Cable News Ratings

Apr 30, 2013  •  Post A Comment

CNN has improved dramatically on its viewer numbers from a year ago, based on preliminary results for April. Deadline.com reports that Fox News Channel still won the battle with CNN and MSNBC, but CNN posted a 79% gain in total viewers from April 2012 for total day, and an 81% gain in prime time.

“A year ago, CNN was in third place with its lowest-rated month in total day in more than a decade and its worst prime time in almost two years,” the report notes. “This month, fueled by extended coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the Texas fertilizer warehouse explosion, CNN saw double-digit viewership growth and triple-digit upward turns in the key adults 25-54 demographic.”

CNN, now under the stewardship of Jeff Zucker, moved into second place, ahead of MSNBC, in both total viewers and the key news demo for the first time in a year, the report notes. The results were CNN’s best since the November 2012 elections.

“CNN’s sister network HLN actually slipped ahead of MSNBC in the demo too for total day with 142,000 viewers,” the story reports.

Here are the numbers for Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC:

Total day: April 2013 vs. April 2012

FNC: 1,233M total viewers — up 14% (278,000 in 25-54 — up 2%)
CNN: 638,000 total viewers — up 79% (228,000 in 25-54 — up 111%)
MSNBC: 406,000 total viewers — down 4% (139,000 in 25-54 — up 1%)

Prime time: April 2013 vs. April 2012

FNC: 2.016M total viewers — up 9% (389,000 in 25-54 — down 2%)
CNN: 918,000 total viewers — up 81% (338,000 in 25-54 — up 127%)
MSNBC: 682,000 total viewers — down 10% (234,000 in 25-54 — down 1%)

Fox News was No. 2 among all cable networks for the month, with CNN coming in at No. 17 and MSNBC at No. 27, the piece notes.

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