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CNN Struggles Mightily in Primetime

Oct 27, 2009  •  Post A Comment

October was a cruel month for CNN: Three of its four primetime programs (7-11 p.m.) came in last among cable news networks in their time slots among key 25-54 year old viewers, a new competitive low for the cable news pioneer, reports the New York Times.

The most worrisome loss for the network, according to the report, was at 10 p.m., where Anderson Cooper’s show came in last in the demographic behind Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, and repeats of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and sister network HLN’s Nancy Grace. Among total viewers, the show was second to Fox News.

CNN’s primetime demographic numbers were down 22 percent from those of 2007 (and even more from 2008 when the numbers were skewed by election coverage.)

In response to its inquiries, the Times said CNN issued a statement that read, in part, “We couldn’t be more pleased that both our networks are now topping MSNBC in total day and that CNN.com leads all TV news competitors on the Web."

–Elizabeth Jensen

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