According to data from Nielsen Media Research, MSNBC has dropped to third place among cable news networks during coverage of the Egyptian political crisis.
MSNBC’s decline against CNN is particularly pronounced in the 25-54 year old demographic. Tuesday night data from Nielsen, as reported by Mediaite, shows CNN with a resounding lead over MSNBC in the key demographic.
Among 25-54 year olds in the 7 p.m. slot, Sheppard Smith of Fox News had 570,000 viewers, John King of CNN had 275,000, and Chris Matthews of MSNBC had only 190,000.
At 8 p.m., the O’Reilly Factor had 831,000 viewers in the demographic to CNN’s ParkerSpitzer with 292,000, and Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC was third with 196,000.
Hannity retained Fox’s lead among the younger audience at 9 p.m. with 478,000 viewers. New CNN host Piers Morgan of CNN had 327,000 viewers and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC had 260,000.
At 10 p.m. Greta Van Susteren of Fox News had 383,000 viewers, Anderson of CNN Cooper 360 had 344,000, and Ed Schultz merely 180,000.
MSNBC retained on Tuesday a slight overall prime time lead over CNN when considering all demographics, but was solidly in third place for full-day viewership. On Wednesday, CNN outpaced MSNBC in overall prime time viewers.