Hat-trick for Piers Morgan as CNN zooms up in February figures
Forget the day-to-day nail-biting. The monthly figures are in and they show that CNN is bounding ahead, with Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper setting the pace
During February, CNN increased an impressive +55% Monday to Friday in the key 25-54 group(243k vs. 157k) while MSNBC grew only +8% (265k vs. 246k) and Fox News Channel lost viewers, decreasing -14% (575k vs. 666k).
Piers Morgan Tonight scored a hat-trick: up +50% in the demo 25-54 compared to a year ago (237k vs. 158k); up +21% in total viewers compared to a year ago (812k vs. 672k) and top-rated among younger viewers (adults 18-34), increasing +78% from a year ago (66k vs. 37k). MSNBC was down -21% (52k vs. 66k) and Fox declined -27% (60k vs. 82k).
In addition, CNN’S Anderson Cooper 360 overtook MSNBC at 10 pm in February and CNN topped MSNBC among total viewers for the first time since June 2010.
Throughout each hour of primetime (M-F), CNN posted big gains compared to a year ago. While CNN overtook MSNBC at 10 pm, the network significantly narrowed the gap with MSNBC at 8 pm and 9 pm compared to 4th quarter averages.