CNN Ratings in Key Demo Hit Fifth Place-Behind CNBC

Even with coverage of a big political event-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebilius testifying before Congress about her part in Obama’s failed Obamacare rollout-CNN’s Wednesday ratings slipped below four other cable networks.

CNN came in fifth place in key demographics on October 30, behind top ratings-grabber Fox News and second place MSNBC. Even CNN’s sister network, HLN, and CNBC beat out the one-time cable ratings powerhouse.

The best CNN could do on Wednesday was Piers Morgan Live, which, as Deadline Hollywood notes, garnered a “soft 83,000” viewers.

“Overall CNN had 285,000 viewers in primetime last night,” Dominic Patten writes, “compared to MSNBC’s 683,000 and FNC’s 2.312 million.” 

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, on the other hand, zoomed back to the top, even after MSNBC chief Phil Griffin claimed that there was some shadowy conspiracy about Kelly’s excellent ratings.

Early in October, Griffin said he did not understand how Kelly could have so badly beaten his star Rachel Maddow, but this week’s ratings seem to prove Kelly’s staying power as opposed to confirming Griffin’s conspiracy theory.

On October 30, Kelly earned 445,000 viewers in the adult 25-54 demo, even topping long-time ratings king The O’Reilly Factor which saw a 433,000 share in the key demographic. O’Reilly, though, still had more total viewers with 2.96 million to Kelly’s 2.350.

Though Kelly has bested O’Reilly only a few times since her early October debut, she has consistently stayed at second place, generally beating both MSNBC and CNN.