Countdown fading?

Daily Finance’s Jeff Bercovici writes about Countdown’s January ratings sliding. I smell a leak. But from whom? According to Bercovici’s numbers Campbell Brown came within 12,000 average viewers of beating Coutndown in the Demo. This past week probably is what saved Countdown from falling to 3rd as the show has beaten Brown’s show handily every night this week so far. Bercovici also has Phil Griffin commenting on Countdown’s January numbers with surprising frankness…and some spin.

Griffin, not surprisingly, says he doesn’t believe Olbermann’s recent hiccups are part of any larger trend. “Keith has been our tentpole,” he says. “I watch the show every night. It’s a great show. It’s as smart and clever and fun as any out there, and I’m pleased with where we are.”

He attributes Olbermann’s January ratings slip to a news cycle in which international news, rather than domestic politics, was the No. 1 story. “On big, breaking international news, CNN tends to do better than us. They did a great job in Haiti, and I tip my hat to them,” he says. “We’re the place for politics, and there are times when politics does great, and there are times when it doesn’t.” With primaries in the midterm elections already looming, he says, “I think we’ll get our momentum back.”