NEW YORK -- For cable newsies, a war with Iraq may not be such a bad thing.
CNN, Headline News, MSNBC and CNBC showed double-digit drops in year-end ratings versus 2001, the year that auds flocked to the television for updates on post-9/11 events.
Only Fox News, which has become the prime peacetime cable news destination, experienced significant growth in total-day and primetime versus 2001.
In 2002, it climbed 44% to an average of 667,000 total-day viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
In the same time period and category, second-place CNN slipped 7% to an average of 536,000 viewers. Third-place MSNBC tumbled 23% to 263,000.
CNBC dove 44%, and Headline News slipped 12%.
Several individual broadcasts are nonetheless gathering momentum for their cable parents.
CNN's 7-10 ayemer "American Morning with Paula Zahn" continues to show strength, jumping 32% in total viewership to an average of 509,000 in 2002. The show, however, still trails FNC's two-hour breakfastgabber "Fox and Friends."
MSNBC, which overhauled its sked in July, ironically saw its biggest gains in timeslots that it considers placeholders.
The 7 p.m. (ET) "Countdown: Iraq" boosted the slot 20% versus the third quarter when the net previously aired "Nachman," now on at 5 p.m.
"MSNBC Reports," which succeeded "Ashleigh Banfield: On Location" at 10 p.m. (ET), has improved the slot by 30%.
Most nets, however, saw significant growth in those specific timeslots during the October sniper attacks, when auds likely tuned in when they got home from work or later when they turned in for the night.
The coverage of the grizzly murders in northern Virginia gave FNC, CNN and MSNBC a boost in fourth-quarter total-audience ratings versus the previous quarter.
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