FOX Tops CNN In The Ratings Battle -- Both Networks Spin The Numbers

(From Washington Magazine -- By Henry Jaffe)

CNN celebrated its 25TH ANNIVERSARY this week with a three-day bash in Atlanta. The cable network shipped in correspondents from across the globe for festivities that climaxed with a HALL AND OATES concert.

But when the May ratings came out on Thursday, the party ended with a crash.

According to NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH numbers, more than twice as many viewers were tuning into FOX NEWS CHANNEL (FNC) as to CNN. On average, in a 24-hour period 1.4 million people tuned into FOX while 610,000 watched CNN.

FNC said it "continued its dominance" over CNN, its chief rival, and said its numbers were up 11 percent compared to May 2004. Meanwhile, CNN lost viewers.

FNC's top talent clearly dominated the prime-time hours. THE O'REILLY FACTOR topped the charts with an average 1,985,000 viewers. It was followed by four other FOX shows -- HANNITY AND COLMES, GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, SHEPARD SMITH, and SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRIT HUME.

CNN didn't break the FNC lock until LARRY KING LIVE, with 970,000 viewers.

No CNN show pulled in a million viewers.

Reading and interpreting NIELSEN RATINGS is a slippery enterprise. Numbers may not lie, but they can be arranged to suit the spin of the networks.

FOX NEWS, for instance, does not mention that O'REILLY's May numbers dipped below 2 million for the first time in a year. In October, during the election season, more than 3-million people were tuning in to O'REILLY's diatribes. CNN said O'REILLY was "hemorrhaging" viewers. A FOX flack said his numbers were up from last May.

CNN is putting the best face on its numbers by shoving anchor NANCY GRACE into the spotlight. Under GRACE, CNN's HEADLINE NEWS has posted "double-digit" audience growth, CNN says. True. But it does well measured only against MSNBC -- GRACE still registers only 410,000 viewers, according to NIELSEN.

Of the top 15 cable shows, only three are on CNN. After LARRY KING, AARON BROWNB registers 526,000 viewers, and PAULA ZAHN comes in 15th with 482,000.

The ratings war pits FNC's unrepentant right-wing media boss ROGER AILES against CNN's JONATHAN KLEIN, a veteran from CBS and a devotee of straight news over the talking heads that populate many cable channels. Klein is CNN's fifth chief of US programming since 2000.

CNN says Klein's steering of the network away from acerbic shows like CROSSFIRE toward hard news is working. Carving out the 25 to 54-year-old demographic, CNN says it has cut into FOX's lead by 50 percent.

FOX counters that CNN's overall numbers have dropped 6 percent in prime time under Klein. And FOX's viewership is still more than double CNN's.

The ratings are closely watched by cable executives and energetically pushed by the PR machines, but WALL STREET is more focused on revenues. On that score, CNN is still strong.

TIME WARNER, which owns CNN, does not break out its financial numbers, but published reports put its revenues at just over $1 billion last year and its earnings at close to $220 million.

As media analyst ANDREW TYNDALL told FINANCIAL TIMES, "The ratings story is an entirely legitimate way to talk about their popularity, but it's not a good way to talk about their business models. They're apples and oranges."

In other words, advertisers are paying high dollars for CNN's viewers, and its international reach brings in revenues from abroad.

Still, the question is whether CNN will celebrate a 30TH ANNIVERSARY if its ratings continue to slide.