Osama Bin Laden Dead: CNN Dominates Coverage Ratings

CNN dominated the Sunday night coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden, beating Fox News and MSNBC handily in the ratings.

CNN averaged 4.142 million total viewers throughout the night, with 2.101 million of those in the all-important A25-54 category. Fox News trailed far behind, with 2.845 million total viewers and 1.267 in the demo. MSNBC lagged behind, with 1.584 million total viewers and 800,000 in the demo.

At its peak, 9.5 million people were tuned into CNN--a respectable rating for a primetime broadcast show, let alone a cable news network at 11:30 on a Sunday night. Fox News also saw its highest ratings on a Sunday night since the Iraq War in 2003. At its peak, 5.1 million viewers were tuned in.

Comments

[BulgyLamb]

05:20 PM on 05/04/2011

so this means CNN had the most truth on this event?

[Richard Aron]

12:38 PM on 05/04/2011

Well when MSNBC is busy on weekends with lockups and sex slaves, CNN will always dominate. MSNBC has to know that news happens on weekends too. Fox of course is irrelevant because they never do real reporting.

[TexasMike]

01:26 AM on 05/04/2011

It's always been this way for CNN. When something serious is going on, they go into their old Ted Turner "Just the Facts" mode. However, they did grate on my nerves a bit with Wolf and John King both duking it out for "Most Poignant TV Talking Head Statement" 2011.

[voting4BO]

12:35 AM on 05/04/2011

CNN is always the first place I go for 'real' news. They'll have it covered!

[Quinn Olson]

05:47 PM on 05/03/2011

Just goes to show you people know where to turn for real news.

[mauibob]

06:47 PM on 05/03/2011

And obviously where not to (MSDNC)

[TexasMike]

01:23 AM on 05/04/2011

You need to now recover from being a bagger. No pithy Fox is the best cheerleader chants?

[RecoveryRoad]

12:04 PM on 05/03/2011

I stopped watching CNN news on a regular basis a few years back, and never looked back, but when I heard the Bin Laden story breaking the other night I turned on CNN news right away. I guess that was the only news station that I could trust in a moment like that.

[morningshowfan]

12:02 PM on 05/03/2011

It's Been a Good year for CNN so far: Tuscon Shooting, Japan Earthquake, Middle East Unrest, Libya, Egypt Protest, Southern Tornadoes, Flooding, Fires, Wisconsin Budget Battle , Near Government Shutdown, The Death of Osama bid laden. ,

2011 has definitely started off as a Much Busier News Year then how 2010 started . It's only Five months into 2011 and we have enough news to fill an entire year. That why I watch The Royal Wedding(Good Stories and News fora change)

[BritishColumbian]

11:04 AM on 05/03/2011

I agree that CNN is a good source when a story first "breaks"; however, they don't know when to stop!! "Who will take over from bin Laden?", "Is President Obama's election inevitable", and so on and on...

[Bepragmatic]

11:03 AM on 05/03/2011

If any of you channeled throught the three networks to find information you would have found Cnn most prepared, with msnbc, trailing slightly. Fox was a joke.. totally unprepared with Geraldo trying to keep a show going with misinformation, no on air talent, and total confusion.

[TucsonEd]

03:30 PM on 05/03/2011

I channeled through the 3. I thought Geraldo was hilarious when he started making it about him!

[irv]

10:26 AM on 05/03/2011

they deserved it! noone does real breaking news better than cnn. good job!

[Easttexas82]

09:52 AM on 05/03/2011

Yes, we mostly turn to CNN when there is actual news happening. Can they please get somebody better than Wolf? Or just somebody else? Sorry Wolf, maybe it was the just the anticipation that made you so irritating. But anyway, the ratings story should point out something else. FOX is always screaming about their ratings. But, most of us don't watch news all of the time. Unless, you happen to be somebody that wants to be told over and over again, 24 hours a day, either bluntly with graphs, or by some incredulous, gasping, wide-eyed blonde, that the Democrats are out to ruin the country and that Obama is the boogyman. They have a built-in audience. The rest of us tune in when something happens that gets our attention from our daily routine and for most of us that's CNN. Probably because they've been around for so long and have usually done a better job of getting somebody on the ground where ever the news is happening.

[ram6968]

11:02 AM on 05/03/2011

I know it sounds warped, but, I kept watching wolf during the first golf war, waiting to see him pass out from hyper-ventilating

[ZGuile]

12:22 PM on 05/03/2011

Yeah, but when Tiger drove that tank onto the 18th green, he was right there with the report!

[colinmincy]

11:13 AM on 05/04/2011

Oh my goodness you have truly captured my problem with Wolf. He was most certainly way too ansy for his own good. Must have been a slow Sunday night....he was downright giddy.

[mauibob]

06:50 PM on 05/03/2011

For not watching, you seem to know a lot about it. (?)

[dfstone]

09:37 AM on 05/03/2011

CNN is always good for reporting serious news. Fox and MSNBC are just entertainment for news junkies.

[DNAtsol]

10:41 AM on 05/03/2011

Have to admit I'm guilty on that front.

I'm a MSNBC news junkie not because I think they are being objective but because they reflect my biases. Luckily, I also make a point of reading/watching other news outlets to balance my biases.

Anyone else willing to admit that on the right? Or is FOX a "real" news channel?

[PrairieGayCompanion]

09:08 AM on 05/03/2011

I did watch some of the CNN coverage, but I can't handle much Blitzer and his constant interruptions of whoever is talking, so I switched over to MSNBC who had their B team on board and covered more as news than commentary.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

08:03 PM on 05/04/2011

Hi PGC. Pretty much what we did here. Especially since my spousal unit kept telling Wolf to shuddup. Almost as distracting as Wolf himself.

[Spike5]

08:40 AM on 05/03/2011

This just proves that the American public knows that when they want fair and balanced news, Fox is not the place to go.

Even Republican viewers knew that the Fox anchors would be forced to give more attention to making Obama's role look irrelevant than to the in-depth details everyone wanted. Just one example is that for many hours, their web site's home page had Bush's name in a headline along with his picture instead of Obama's.

CNN has always had the best reputation when it comes to complete and thorough coverage not skewed by a political agenda.

[mustraline]

07:55 AM on 05/03/2011

When it comes to real news and real reporting CNN crushes all outlets.

It was a Sunday evening. All of the Fox News Liars viewers were already in bed. The poor geezers had a difficult day at shuffle board. Safely medicated, they were all dreaming of "taking back their country".

[jhn317]

10:09 AM on 05/03/2011

FACT! CNN was the last of the big three to report he was dead.