POLITICUSUSA
For the second time this year MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has defeated Fox News in the coveted age 25-54 demographic, while Chris Matthews also defeated Fox News with younger viewers at 7 PM.
MSNBC's ratings have plunged this year, and the the domino effect of bad decisions that have killed the network's ratings began with the departure of Keith Olbermann.
Changing demographics aren't just winning elections, they are reshaping cable news. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell beat their Fox News competition every day last week in the 25-54 demo.
Not only is the Republican primary pushing away voters, it is also turning off cable news watchers. Case in point, ratings leader Fox News saw a 17% decline in viewership in March.
In a year of highs and lows, and plenty of circus like atmosphere and drama, two of the biggest pleasant surprises for MSNBC in 2010 were the late blooming success of The Ed Show, and the immediate success of The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell. Let's take a look at two of MSNBC's bright spots for the year.
While looking through the past couple of weeks of prime time cable news ratings, I noticed something interesting. Keith Olbermann's Countdown is no longer the dominate show on the network. Olbermann's program is being challenged for in house supremacy by The Rachel Maddow Show. Maddow has been running neck and neck with or defeating Countdown on a regular basis.
The cable news ratings for the third quarter of 2010 were released today, and Fox News is showing signs of decline as their viewership has decreased by 21%, and their top shows all posted double digit losses, while MSNBC's shows, grew and the network attracted more younger viewers.
The early ratings are in for Ed Schultz's The Ed Show on MSNBC, and they have provided a boost to MSNBC's 6 pm (ET) hour. It is too soon to tell if his show will be a hit or a miss, and the show definitely could use some tweaking, but Schultz is definitely off to a good start.