Cable News Network and Fox News Channel drew nearly the same size audience
Feb. 2 for their breaking-news coverage of the shuttle Columbia
disaster.
In total-day ratings, both CNN and Fox News registered 1.6 ratings. CNN
attracted slightly more viewers -- 1.85 million, compared with Fox News' 1.76
million. MSNBC recorded a 0.8 rating with 759,000 viewers, according to Nielsen
Media Research.
Ratings spiked in their highest levels in early afternoon. CNN's ratings
peaked at a 3.8 from 11 a.m. EST to noon, and Fox News logged a 3.5 rating from
noon to 1 p.m. EST.
The weekend's news and the State of the Union coverage earlier in the week
propelled Fox News to a 1.9 prime-time average last week, the best on cable. CNN
notched a 1.3 average rating and MSNBC averaged a 0.5.
