CNN's key moves in recent months -- in particular, the decision to move Anderson Cooper into the 8 00 p.m. slot and replace Larry King with Piers Morgan at 9 00 pm. -- appear to be paying off with significantly higher ratings, according to an examination of Nielsen ratings by The New York Times . Among adults 25-54, regarded by advertisers as the key demo, the audience at 8 00 p.m. has improved 38 percent from last year, rising to 215,000 viewers from 156,000. Morgan's audience now numbers 193,000 versus King's 164,000 one year ago. Meanwhile, MSNBC has seen an erosion of its audience since Keith Olbermann's departure, falling to 207,000 for Lawrence O'Donnell's show from 256,000 when Olbermann was the host of the 9 00 p.m. hour. Olbermann himself is attracting just 50,000 for his show on Current TV, but the cable channel does not have nearly the distribution that CNN or MSNBC have. Fox News, meanwhile, continues to lead CNN and MSNBC, generally drawing far more viewers for its shows than those for CNN and MSNBC combined.

27/09/2011