In normal times, MSNBC is able to regularly beat CNN in the ratings and hold a distant second place to Fox News. But the price you pay for moving away from your news network roots, to morph into left-wing talk radio with pictures, is that when real news hits, people are interested in more than confirmation that liberalism is the correct answer for everything.
For that reason, since Monday’s terror attack in Boston, MSNBC has been getting absolutely crushed by its competitors, CNN and Fox News.
Wednesday, my colleague Larry O’Connor pointed out this dramatic shift in ratings, and the ratings available since prove that was no fluke.
While it is true MSNBC has seen a slight uptick in viewers over last week, that increase is nothing close to what you would expect a cable news network to receive with the nation riveted by the first successful domestic terror attack since 2001.
Compared to Thursday of last week, MSNBC’s total day viewership jumped only by about a hundred thousand viewers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday, April 11 — Total Day
FNC: 1,133
CNN: 366
MSNBC: 375
Tuesday, April 16 — Total Day
FNC: 1,517
CNN: 909
MSNBC: 460
Wednesday, April 17 — Total Day
FNC: 1,467
CNN: 912
MSNBC: 493
Last Thursday, MSNBC was also handily beating CNN. This Tuesday and Wednesday, though, thanks to about a half-million extra viewers tuning in, CNN is now crushing MSNBC.
The bad news for CNN, though, is that for years it used to be the network that benefited most during any major news event. Ever since the first Gulf War, Americans became used to switching to CNN when news mattered, and that habit would reflect in the ratings, usually boosting CNN to the top.
That is no longer the case.
Over the past couple days (as you can see above), Fox News has benefitted from its own boost in viewers and therefore continues to crush both CNN and MSNBC.
Looks as though we have a new “Most Trusted Name In News.”
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC