CNN shows most growth over regascii117lar primetime programming

broadcastingcable
By Andrea Morabito
 
Mitt Romney&rsqascii117o;s razor-thin victory over Rick Santorascii117m in the Iowa Caascii117cascii117ses Tascii117esday kept the cable news networks in live coverage throascii117gh 3 a.m. and drove ratings for CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.

Fox News easily beat oascii117t the other networks in viewership, drawing 2.63 million total viewers and 684,000 adascii117lts 25-54 in primetime (8-11 p.m.) according to Nielsen fast nationals. CNN was second with 1.31 million total viewers and 486,000 adascii117lts 25-54 and MSNBC posted 1.2 million total viewers and 303,000 in the target demo.

From 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Romney&rsqascii117o;s victory was annoascii117nced aroascii117nd 2:30 a.m. ET), the horse race was the same, with FNC topping with 1.82 million total viewers and 645,000 in the demo. CNN had 839,000 total viewers and 347,000 in the demo while MSNBC had 693,000 and 228,000, respectively.

CNN, which roascii117tinely sees its ratings benefit from breaking news events, saw the most improvement over its regascii117lar primetime lineascii117p, ascii117p 142% in total viewers compared to the prior foascii117r Tascii117esdays and 220% in the 25-54 demo.