Having struggled for years, MSNBC notes proudly that it had the greatest ratings growth of any cable news channel in Q2 – the third consecutive quarter that it could make that claim. MSNBC says for total day in the quarter, MSNBC was up +26% in total viewers over second quarter 2006 (296,000 v. 234,000) and up 34% in the key adult 25-54 demographic (123,000 v. 92,000), according to Nielsen Media Research data. In total viewers, CNN was up 11% (471,000 v. 425,000) and Fox News Channel was up only +5% (815,000 v. 776,000).
In primetime (M-F 8:00-11:00 p.m., ET), MSNBC was up a substantial 49% in total viewers (520,000 v. 349,000) and 49% in the adult demo (198,000 v. 133,000), while CNN was basically flat, up 3% (823,000 v. 796,000), and Fox News Channel was up a mere 5% in total viewers (1,720,000 v. 1,635,000).
MSNBC's dayside programming block (M-F 9:00-6:00 p.m. ET) also grew at a healthy clip, up 38% in total viewers (268,000 v. 194,000) and 39% in the adult demo. This block includes "Tucker" (4:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET), which was up 39% in total viewers (301,000 v. 217,000) and +31% in the adult demo (102,000 v. 78,000) and also "Hardball with Chris Matthews" (5:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET), which was up 32% in total viewers (407,000 v. 308,000) and 32% in the adult demo (135,000 v. 102,000). By contrast, CNN's daytime block was up 18% in total viewers (496,000 v. 420,000) and Fox News Channel was up 7% (861,000 v. 807,000).
At 7:00 p.m. "Hardball with Chris Matthews" was up 8% in total viewers (423,000 v. 392,000) and 9% in the adult demo (146,000 v. 134,000). In total viewers, CNN was up 9% and Fox News 3% at 7:00 p.m.
"Countdown with Keith Olbermann" (8:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET) continues its amazing growth surge, up 72% in total viewers (710,000 v. 412,000) and 54% in the adult demo (241,000 v. 156,000) while CNN dropped 2% in total viewers (594,000 v. 605,000) and Fox News Channel grew 7% in total viewers (2,220,000 v. 2,077,000). "Countdown" maintained its position in second place at 8:00 p.m, with a 20% advantage in total viewers over CNN.
At 9:00 p.m. (ET), where the network has telecast "Scarborough Country" Monday through Thursday, the network also enjoyed significant growth, up 35% in total viewers (467,000 v. 347,000) and up 36% in the adult demo (170,000 v. 125,000). CNN was basically flat, up 1% in total viewers (1,058,000 v. 1,046,000), and Fox News Channel was up 3% in total viewers (1,552,000 v. 1,502,000).
SmartMedia observation: As the underlying numbers indicate, MSNBC is still a distant #3 in the cable news channel ratings race. It is, however, moving in the right direction. Does it finally have the right shows in place? Will it stick to a strategy long enough for the ratings traction to accomplish something?
