Middle-of-the-Road CNN Slips Into Last Place

Insiders pitch plans, from bringing back Crossfire to pulling an MSNBC

(NEWSER) - With CNN’s primetime viewership off 40% since last year, Michael Calderone at Politico undertakes a survey of news insiders to see what can be done for the “most trusted name in news.”

• Resurrect Crossfire: CNN could give people the outspoken MSNBC- and Fox-style opinions they appear to want, but the right vs. left format would keep the network itself neutral. "We were No. 1," says a former contributor, even with Lou Dobbs as a lead-in.

In January overall, Fox was third most watched cable channel

(NEWSER) - "Fair and balanced" might be cause for lively debate, but Fox News' status as the top dog in cable news isn't—the network scored the top 13 programs in total viewership and the key 25-54 demographic through January. Bill O’Reilly’s show tops the rankings, with Sean Hanitty and Glenn Beck behind him. In the entire cable spectrum, last month found Fox third in viewers, behind USA and ESPN, Mediabistro reports. Its competitors fell far behind: CNN's spot was 24, and MSNBC’s 29. More»

With no election, CNN primetime stalwart staggers

(NEWSER) - 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. More»

Fox, MSNBC are pushing longtime rival into 3rd place

(NEWSER) - The oldest cable news network is starting to lag behind both of its main rivals in primetime, Variety reports. In the first quarter of this year, CNN saw a 23% drop in the key 25-54 demographic and a 10% drop overall from 8 to 11pm. In particular, Campbell Brown's show at 8pm (she's now on maternity leave) got socked by Bill O'Reilly on Fox and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Fox leads the primetime race by a mile, and MSNBC actually overtook CNN for the first time. More»

CNN, MSNBC, and Fox say they won't air his response

(NEWSER) - If you're hoping to watch Herman Cain deliver the Tea Party response to President Obama's State of the Union Address tonight, you're going to have to do it online , because none of the three major cable news networks tell the Atlantic Wire they plan to carry it. "We don't plan on taking it," an MSNBC spokesman says, and a CNN spokesman says much the same. Even conservative bastion Fox News says it won't broadcast the speech live, though it will stream it on FoxNews.com. More»