Mitt
Romney's razor-thin victory over Rick Santorum in the Iowa Caucuses Tuesday
kept the cable news networks in live coverage through 3 a.m. and drove ratings
for CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.
Fox News
easily beat out the other networks in viewership, drawing 2.63 million total
viewers and 684,000 adults 25-54 in primetime (8-11 p.m.) according to Nielsen
fast nationals. CNN was second with 1.31 million total viewers and 486,000
adults 25-54 and MSNBC posted 1.2 million total viewers and 303,000 in the
target demo.
From 11
p.m.-3 a.m. (Romney's victory was announced around 2:30 a.m. ET), the horse
race was the same, with FNC topping with 1.82 million total viewers and 645,000
in the demo. CNN had 839,000 total viewers and 347,000 in the demo while MSNBC
had 693,000 and 228,000, respectively.
CNN, which
routinely sees its ratings benefit from breaking news events, saw the most
improvement over its regular primetime lineup, up 142% in total viewers
compared to the prior four Tuesdays and 220% in the 25-54 demo.
