Boston Bombings Lift Cable News Ratings
The bombings at the Boston marathon Monday afternoon drove
viewers to cable news, with the combined primetime audience for CNN, Fox News
and MSNBC up 161% over the prior Monday, according to Nielsen data.
CNN topped the target adults 25-54 demo in primetime,
averaging 1.32 million viewers to Fox News' 1.19 million and MSNBC's 461,000
viewers from 8-11 p.m. In total viewers, Fox News was first with an audience of
3.9 million, CNN was second with 2.75 million viewers and MSNBC drew 1.244 million.
In the 3 p.m. hour (the news of the explosions broke at 3:07
p.m. ET), Fox News averaged 1.96 million total viewers and 542,000 adults
25-54, CNN drew 970,000 viewers and 349,000 in the key demo and MSNBC had
435,000 total viewers and 129,000 adults 25-54.
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