2009: MSNBC…

MSNBC is noting its Q4 and 2009 numbers…

MSNBC BEATS CNN FOR THE YEAR IN PRIMETIME, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AMONG A25-54 – NETWORK’S SECOND BEST RATINGS YEAR EVER

MSNBC Beats CNN in 4Q at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 PM in A25-54

NEW YORK – Dec. 29, 2009 – MSNBC ends 2009 on a historic high note, beating CNN in primetime for the year for the first time ever among A25-54. MSNBC also finished the year as the #1 news network among younger adults, A18-34, and had its second best ratings year in the network’s 14-year history, behind only last year’s historic election year high.

MSNBC finished 2009 especially strong, beating CNN in 4Q from 6-11 p.m. among A25-54; the repeat of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” at 10 p.m. edged the live “Anderson Cooper 360” at 10 p.m. for the first time ever for the quarter.

Following are MSNBC ratings highlights for 2009 and 4Q09:

· For the first time ever, MSNBC finished the year ahead of CNN in primetime among A25-54, beating them in M-F (302,000 vs. 292,000) and M-Su (277,000 vs. 264,000).

· MSNBC was the #1 news network in 2009 among younger adults, 18-34 in primetime, M-F (106,000), M-Su (99,000) and on weekends in primetime (84,000) and in sales prime (7pm-2am, 95,000).

· CNN finished 4Q09 in 4th place for the first time ever in A25-54 in M-F primetime (FNC: 674,000; MSNBC: 239,000; HLN: 215,000; CNN: 201,000).

· MSNBC had its second best ratings year in its history, behind only last year’s historic election year.

· “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” finished the year with a tremendous lead over CNN’s “Campbell Brown,” for the third year in a row, beating CNN by 56 percent in A25-54 (355,000 vs. 227,000) and by 42 percent in total viewers (1,157,000 vs. 812,000).

· In 4Q09, “Countdown” outrated “Campbell Brown” by 75% in A25-54 (282,000 vs. 161,000) and by 59% in total viewers (1,016,000 vs. 639,000).

· The “Countdown” re-air at 10 p.m. out-rated CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” among A25-54 in 4Q09 for the first time in a quarter (211,000 vs. 204,000).

· “The Rachel Maddow Show” at 9 p.m. was up 14% from the time period in 2008 in total viewers (1,016,000 vs. 888,000) and up 126% from 2007 (450,000). “The Rachel Maddow Show” finished the year just 2,000 A25-54 shy of “Larry King Live” in the hour (298,000 vs. 300,000).

· In 4Q09, “The Rachel Maddow Show” outrated “LKL” by 8% in A25-54 (237,000 vs. 219,000) and by 5% in total viewers (881,000 vs. 840,000).

· “The Ed Show” finished 4Q09 beating CNN’s “The Situation Room” at 6 p.m. among A25-54 (141,000 vs. 137,000).

· “Hardball with Chris Matthews” at 7 p.m. beat CNN in 4Q09 by 12% among A25-54 (173,000 vs. 155,000) and by 5% in total viewers (636,000 vs. 604,000).

· In 4Q09, MSNBC’s longform weekend programming was #1 in sales prime in A25-54 (214,000, 7pm-2am). MSNBC finished the year ahead of CNN in the time period and only 2% behind Fox News among A25-54 (220,000 vs. 224,000, 7 pm-2am).