Anderson Cooper's Ratings Plummet

Anderson Cooper may be widely respected, but he isnt widely watched. Anderson Cooper 360 is down 62% since last November, and down 70% among the 25-to-54 demographic that’s so important to advertisers, according to Nielsen figures. Last month the CNN 10pm stalwart came in second behind Fox’s On the Record, 1.9 million to with 672,000. But among the 25-to-54 crowd, AC360 fell behind even reruns of Countdown on MSNBC.

“Cooper surely deserves better ratings,” writes Erin Carlson of the Business Insider. “So what happened?” Well, last year’s ratings were no doubt boosted by the presidential election. Beyond that, blame competition from noisier, more partisan offerings on Fox and MSNBC, and the loss of Lou Dobbs at 7pm. (More Anderson Cooper stories.)