As Zahn goes, so goes CNN--down (CNN Down 24% In Vital Timeslot! ....While Fox Gains Audience)

In moving Paula Zahn into primetime, CNN was hoping to recover from its near-disastrous foray into tabloid television with Connie Chung, whose show was yanked in March after less than a year. CNN might have done better sticking with Chung. Zahn’s July ratings for the same 8 p.m. time slot were down an unexpectedly large 24 percent among total viewers from what Chung averaged for the same month a year ago. This comes as no small delight to competing all-news cable networks, notably Fox News, but more worrisome for CNN is that Zahn is actually faring better than the network. CNN's overall viewership was down 26 percent in July. Further, comparisons of Zahn's July numbers to Chung's a year earlier are skewed because Chung was in her first month, when viewers were sampling the former ABC newswoman at a higher rate than later in the year. Zahn's numbers track her performance several months into her tenure, which unofficially began in April and was "officially" launched with a show title change in early July. Chung averaged 761,000 viewers last July to Zahn’s 579,000. CNN averaged 931,000 viewers in primetime last July, down to 690,000 this year. According to Nielsen Media Research numbers analyzed by MTV Networks, the network’s total-day audience was 417,000, down from 535,000. Making things even worse for CNN, in the same month Fox News was up 16 percent for total-day viewing from a year earlier and experienced a 13 percent jump in total viewers. CNN has also done a poorer job in holding the viewers it picked up from the war. CNN averaged 417,000 viewers for the total day during the war’s peak in March. The network has maintained 27.8 percent of that audience. Fox News, with 1.95 million viewers in March, retained 37.8 percent of that audience in July. Among 18-49s, Fox News has kept 27 percent of its March audience, while CNN has kept only 19 percent. Among 25-54s the gap is slightly bigger, with Fox News at 28 percent and CNN at 18.7 percent. In primetime, CNN’s March to July audience shrank by 71 percent while Fox News dipped just 60 percent. Those declines are obviously affecting Zahn’s ratings. The one small consolation to CNN is that its postwar dropoff has not been nearly as severe as third-place MSNBC’s. That network has lost 75 percent of its primetime viewership since March, retaining just 16 percent among 18-49s. Thus it’s clear that potential Zahn viewers aren’t being siphoned away by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann show. The question facing CNN is whether it will stick with Zahn as it did not stick with Chung. One would sense it will. Even apart from the numbers, Chung's show was a mismatch in both talent and concept, as CNN later determined. The tabloid format was inappropriate for CNN and also for Chung, a respected, serious newswoman who never seemed entirely comfortable with the tabloid topics the show attacked. Zahn and her show, even with the ratings slump, seem more in line with the image and identity of the network as a straight-poop news operation.

As Zahn goes, so
goes CNN--down

Both see ratings tumble while Fox News rises

In moving Paula Zahn into primetime, CNN was hoping to recover from its near-disastrous foray into tabloid television with Connie Chung, whose show was yanked in March after less than a year.

CNN might have done better sticking with Chung.

Zahn’s July ratings for the same 8 p.m. time slot were down an unexpectedly large 24 percent among total viewers from what Chung averaged for the same month a year ago.

This comes as no small delight to competing all-news cable networks, notably Fox News, but more worrisome for CNN is that Zahn is actually faring better than the network.

CNN's overall viewership was down 26 percent in July.

Further, comparisons of Zahn's July numbers to Chung's a year earlier are skewed because Chung was in her first month, when viewers were sampling the former ABC newswoman at a higher rate than later in the year. Zahn's numbers track her performance several months into her tenure, which unofficially began in April and was "officially" launched with a show title change in early July.

Chung averaged 761,000 viewers last July to Zahn’s 579,000. CNN averaged 931,000 viewers in primetime last July, down to 690,000 this year. According to Nielsen Media Research numbers analyzed by MTV Networks, the network’s total-day audience was 417,000, down from 535,000.

Making things even worse for CNN, in the same month Fox News was up 16 percent for total-day viewing from a year earlier and experienced a 13 percent jump in total viewers.

CNN has also done a poorer job in holding the viewers it picked up from the war.

CNN averaged 417,000 viewers for the total day during the war’s peak in March. The network has maintained 27.8 percent of that audience. Fox News, with 1.95 million viewers in March, retained 37.8 percent of that audience in July.

Among 18-49s, Fox News has kept 27 percent of its March audience, while CNN has kept only 19 percent. Among 25-54s the gap is slightly bigger, with Fox News at 28 percent and CNN at 18.7 percent.

In primetime, CNN’s March to July audience shrank by 71 percent while Fox News dipped just 60 percent.

Those declines are obviously affecting Zahn’s ratings.

The one small consolation to CNN is that its postwar dropoff has not been nearly as severe as third-place MSNBC’s. That network has lost 75 percent of its primetime viewership since March, retaining just 16 percent among 18-49s.

Thus it’s clear that potential Zahn viewers aren’t being siphoned away by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann show.

The question facing CNN is whether it will stick with Zahn as it did not stick with Chung. One would sense it will.

Even apart from the numbers, Chung's show was a mismatch in both talent and concept, as CNN later determined. The tabloid format was inappropriate for CNN and also for Chung, a respected, serious newswoman who never seemed entirely comfortable with the tabloid topics the show attacked.

Zahn and her show, even with the ratings slump, seem more in line with the image and identity of the network as a straight-poop news operation.

Good point about CNN in the box. The reason for CNN's initial success is simple - they were the only game in town. Great video from news sites all over the globe. Faster than the networks with breaking news.

The first serious rivals, CNBC and MSNBC, had fluctuating programming and never found a way to make a dent in CNN's ratings. Only when FOX began 'fair and balanced' programming that included conservative opinion did anyone make an concerted effort to knock CNN out of the lead.

Thanks to the internet, hard core news junkies do not need to rely on CNN for 'breaking news', so the commentary and analysis of that news is what will draw viewers. FOX wins hands down.

Take CNN out of airports and bars and it's not even a contest.

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