The ratings are out for the October broadcast month, the first full month of the 2006-2007 TV season, and for those of you who are fretting about whether the bravery of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann would motivate his bosses at NBC to send him packing a la Phil Donahue, you can probably rest easy. Keith’s numbers are quite literally going through the roof, and he seems to be bringing the rest of MSNBC’s primetime lineup along for the ride.
In October 2005 Olbermann’s 8pm numbers were already on the rise, but they were not necessarily the stuff of which job security is made. He was delivering 381,000 total viewers — 53,000 fewer than his 7pm lead-in, Chris Matthews’ Hardball, and 2,000 fewer than Rita Cosby which then occupied the 9pm MSNBC slot. He fared a little better among Adults 25-54, the “money” demographic advertisers crave. At 145,000 Adults 25-54, Olbermann was already # 1 at MSNBC, 8,000 ahead of “Hardball” and 10,000 ahead of “Rita Cosby.”
Relative to his CNN and FOX competition however, Olbermann was a very, very distant third in October 2005. Bill O’Reilly over at FOX was delivering 603% more total viewers and 257% more Adults 25-54. At CNN Paula Zahn was delivering 116% more total viewers and 61% more Adults 25-54.
What a difference a year makes:
Olbermann delivered 637,000 total viewers in October 2006.
- That is an increase of 67% versus October 2005
- Olbermann left the other MSNBC talk shows in the dust, delivering 39% more viewers than “Hardball” (457,000 viewers, +5% versus a year ago); and 52% more viewers that Joe Scarborough’s 9pm show (418,000 viewers, +9% versus Rita Cosby a year ago).
- Olbermann is still number 3 behind FOX and CNN, but not by all that much. O’Reilly is still way ahead at 2,081,000 viewers, but that is -22% and more than half-a-million viewers versus a year ago. Paula Zahn is also -22% and beat Olberman by a mere 2,000 viewers.
- Olbermann was delivering 10% of the total 3-network total viewer pie (FOX, MSNBC, and CNN) in October 2005. In October 2006 he is up to 19%. That represents a 111% share increase.
Olbermann delivered 233,000 Adults 25-54 (the “money” demographic) in October 2006.
- That is an increase of 61% versus October 2005
- Again this places Olbermann well ahead of the other MSNBC talk shows. He is delivering 34% more Adults 25-54 than “Hardball” (174,000 Adults 25-54, +5% versus a year ago); and 53% more Adults 25-54 than Joe Scarborough’s 9pm show (152,000 Adults 25-54, +13% versus Rita Cosby a year ago).
- Again, Fox’s Bill O’Reilly still leads the time period with 470,000 Adults 25-54, but that is -9% versus a year ago, and over at CNN Paula Zahn is now in third place behind Olbermann with 217,000 Adults 25-54, -7% versus a year ago.
- And again, Olbermann’s share of the 8pm 3-network Adult 25-54 pie is way up — from 16% in October 2005 to 25% in October 2006 — a 56% increase.
Those stodgy and conservative executives at NBC and parent company General Electric are probably wishing they had clamped a lid on Keith Olbermann some time ago. He is after all one of the very few main stream media figures who dares speak truth to power. With numbers like these though — and those numbers are still on the rise — those of us who worry about Keith can probably rest easy.
Right on Keith!!!
I don’t know what that means, but when I hear good news about KO, I want to say it.
He’s got regular fans around here.
Ah, but has he answered the communal love note we sent him after the powder fiasco? As far as I know he has not, darn him.
In any case, weren’t Donahue’s numbers good also when he was pulled? I’m not yet confident that Keith won’t prove too uppity for Management to abide.
Donahue’s numbers were slowly improving, and he had become the top rated show on MSNBC, but the circumstances were very different. Donahue had been hired at a big salary and was expected to be an instant hit. For a very long time his numbers were really bad before he started to slowly catch on. His growth was nothing like Olbermann’s and he certainly never finished ahead of FOX.
Remember, NBC was riding much higher then, and so was Bush, whose approval numbers were near 70%. NBC claimed Donahue was fired for low ratings, but a memo leaked that revealed that NBC brass did not want Donahue attacking Bush as we were about to go to war.
With Bush’s approval numbers in the toilet, sentiment against the war in Iraq in the 60% area, and NBC in a world of hurt I don’t see how they could ever justify firing Olbermann with his numbers soaring. This is the first time MSNBC has ever beaten both CNN and CNN HN in any time period.
Thanks for the clarification.
Not much of a TV “news” watcher, because ..um..there is not much “news” on TV. That said, some of the well publicized special comments by KO in recent weeks have caught my attention. On occasion, in the past month, I find myself getting up from the computer desk (where I am reading what you all have to say) and strolling over to the sofa to watch an entire hour of KO.
He is still a TV guy, but I haven’t broken out in hives yet, and I like where he seems to be headed. Actually showing some wit while on the air is unique as well. So, I’m glad his numbers are up, especially when FOX seems to be headed in the opposite direction.
Personally, I think KO deserved our support as soon as he showed the cojones to approach voting ‘irregularities’ seriously in ’04. I wrote him then with my utmost encouragement & I didn’t watch any tv at all, at the time.
What I’d like to see in this analysis is a comparison of the total population of CNN, Fox, and MSNBC viewers. On my cable provider, MSNBC is considered a premium channel, whereas I got CNN and Fox for ‘free’ with my basic cable package. So Keith’s numbers might be even better looking if you look at how much he’s reaching out of total audience share. I’m certain MSNBC ranks third behind CNN and Fox. I just don’t know by how much.
Thanks, Jerry, for some positive news. Although I’m still worried. Who are the advertisers during this show, and will they stick with him? I saw that HP pulled ads from Air America (see http://www.fair.org for that story.)
You are definitely right about CNN and FOX having a larger base to draw from than MSNBC. Unfortunately I have no access to those numbers.
I am sure there are some advertiser who avoid Olbermann, but I doubt there are enough to matter. NBC is really hurting though, and Olbermann is one of the few bright spots they have. Hopefully his numbers will continue top grow and that will help MSNBC to get more cable system clearances and upgrades.
to his advertisers. I’ve frequently seen the Apple “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” spots — tonight was my favorite one stressing that Apple does “work stuff” too: “Why go on? Just let me lie here and depreciate…” 🙂 Also noticed Cialis and other prescription meds.
I usually watch “Countdown” on the DVR so I can zap through the commercials (though I always stop for the Apple ads lol), but maybe I’ll have to pause once in a while…
Thankfully, MSNBC is in my Expanded Basic package. I watch KO regularly, and sent an approval note when it was announced that the show will re-air later that night.
I have XM radio in my car, and often listened while driving when they carried MSNBC (over Imus’ objections it seems). Imus got his druthers because it’s no longer on XM Radio, just Sirius. (I assume.)
I hadn’t realized that MSNBC was a premium channel until I went to visit a friend this fall and while she has direct tv provided in her apartment to my horror she doesn’t get ‘Olbermans channel’ included in that basic package. I spent a week without any real news channel and it was like withdrawal addiction. I’m even more sorry that my friend has never seen his show due to this…so who knows what his numbers would be if he was in basic package as is CNN and Faux.
Luckily it is included in the basic package here where I live.
Keith is the ONLY show I watch on msnbc. I occassionally watch wolfe blitzer but that is only occassionally. Here is the proof in the pudding, KO is terrrrrriiiiiffffic!!!!!