WASHINGTON — After getting mixed ratings report cards in 2009, CNN and MSNBC are adjusting their lineups in the coming weeks as they try to lure back viewers who drifted away after the 2008 election.
The changes at the two channels come after a year in which Fox News grew even stronger, bolstered by outspoken hosts such as Glenn Beck, who used his show to rally opposition to the Obama administration.
In primetime, Fox News averaged 2.2 million viewers, a 7 percent rise over 2008, the network’s best showing ever in its 13-year history, according to Nielsen.
Remarkably, every program on the network’s schedule expanded its audience in 2009. Beck, the channel’s newest hire, averaged 2.4 million in his 5 p.m. ET show, a 95 percent boost for the time period. The Bret Baier-anchored newscast “Special Report,” which follows Beck, grew 25 percent to 2 million viewers. And Bill O’Reilly continued his reign as the most-watched cable news host, logging 3.3 million, a spike of 13 percent.
Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC, which enjoyed the biggest gains during the 2008 election, both lost viewers in primetime this year. CNN dropped 30 percent to an average of 903,000 viewers, while MSNBC fell 12 percent to an average of 811,000.
But MSNBC’s ability to hold on to a bigger share of its audience helped the network reach a primetime milestone in 2009: for the first time, it beat CNN among 25- to 54-year-old viewers, the age group most sought after by advertisers. MSNBC averaged 280,000, a drop-off of 24 percent,, while CNN fell 42 percent to 264,000.
Rachel Maddow was a particular bright spot for MSNBC, increasing her total audience by 14 percent over 2008 and matching CNN’s Larry King in the advertising demographic.
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