MSNBC's Williams ratings dip
Show going head to head with Fox's O'Reilly, CNN
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Last week, during the cable newscast's first week in its new 8 p.m. slot -- head to head with Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" and CNN's combo of "Wolf Blitzer Reports" and "The Point With Greta Van Susteren" -- "The News" dipped in viewers from its old 9 p.m. time period and from "MSNBC Investigates," which previously aired at 8 p.m.
For the week of July 9-13, "The News" averaged 197,000 viewers, a 17% drop from the newcast's second quarter average in its 9 p.m. slot (237,000 viewers). In the key demo of adults 25-54, Williams' show averaged 71,000 viewers, a 28% slip from the second quarter (99,000). The show is also down 30% in viewers (from 282,000) and 52% in adults 25-54 (148,000) from "MSNBC Investigates' " performance during the second quarter when it aired at 8 p.m.
In Williams' old 9 p.m. slot, "MSNBC Investigates" is now thriving. Last week, the series was up 29% in total viewers (306,000) compared with Williams' second-quarter average. In adults 25-54, "MSNBC Investigates" (159,000) has improved 61% over Williams' second quarter average.
Total aud growing
An MSNBC rep pointed out that "The News" ' combined audience at 8 on MSNBC and 10 p.m. on sister net CNBC was up 9% in households and 3% in total viewers last week, compared with the second quarter.
"Any time you have change, it's a growing pain for the viewers to adapt," the rep said. "It's unfair to look at Brian's numbers after only one week, especially during the middle of summer when viewing levels for everyone are low."
Meanwhile, last week, "O'Reilly" averaged 1.1 million total viewers, up 28% over its second-quarter average (873,000). Among adults 25-54, "O'Reilly" jumped 57% to 311,000 from its second quarter average (198,000).
On CNN, the one-hour combo of "Wolf Blitzer" and "Greta Von Susteren" averaged 587,000 total viewers last week, up 30% from its second-quarter average (450,000). In adults 25-54, the two shows averaged 164,000, up 25% from second quarter (131,000).
Williams, seen as the heir apparent to Tom Brokaw, also hasn't been faring too well on "NBC Nightly News" where he is subbing for Brokaw this summer. The newcast, which has been hurt recently by soft lead-ins, fell out of first place for the past couple of weeks. During the week of July 2, a Williams-anchored "Nightly News" recorded its lowest ratings in at least 10 years. Of course, viewership for nightly newscasts traditionally dips in summer and the week of July 4 is notoriously low-rated.
