Cable News Network was the cable-news ratings winner during last Thursday’s
massive blackout.
The network averaged a 1.7 from 4:15 p.m. (EST) Aug. 14 -- the time when the
widespread outages took place -- until 2.a.m the next day, according to Nielsen
Media Research data. That translated into 1.74 million viewers on average.
Fox News Channel averaged a 1.6 and 1.66 million viewers, while MSNBC was a
distant third with a 0.7 and 750,000 watchers on average.
In primetime, the scorecard read 2.3 for CNN (2.41 million viewers), 1.8 for
Fox News (1.86 million) and 0.9 for MSNBC (980,000).
CNN said Larry King Live -- which featured guests New York Gov. George
Pataki, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), former energy secretary and
governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, Edison
Electric Institute’s Tom Kuhn and California Gov. Gray Davis -- was the sector’s
most-watched show with 2.6 million total viewers Aug. 14.
CNN’s edge was temporary, though: Fox News reclaimed its now-familiar
first-place perch in both primetime and total day Aug. 15, averaging 1.36
million and 918,000 viewers, respectively, according to Nielsen data.
For its part, CNN drew 744,000 viewers in primetime and averaged 721,000 when
gauged on a 24-hour basis. MSNBC garnered 307,000 in total-day and 260,000 in
primetime.
