CNN has released their March numbers, as well as ratings figures for the first quarted of 2011. CNN's notes are below.

CNN Press Release: CNN TOPS MSNBC IN PRIMETIME IN THE KEY DEMO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX QUARTERS

ALSO BESTS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY AND DAYSIDE AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS AND THE DEMO 25-54 DURING FIRST QUARTER 2011

‘Piers Morgan Tonight’ Has Most Growth of Any Cable News Program this Quarter; Increasing 52% in the Demo 25-54 vs. a year Ago Programming; Also Tops Rachel Maddow in the Demo


PRIMETIME:

For the first quarter 2011, CNN outperformed MSNBC in the key demo among adults 25-54 in M-F primetime for the first time in six quarters (Q3 2009), averaging 276k vs. 269k. In M-F primetime, CNN grew +28% compared to Q1 2010, while MSNBC’s growth was much less substantial (+9%) and Fox News actually lost -21% of its primetime audience during the quarter.

TOTAL DAY AND DAYSIDE:

CNN topped MSNBC in total day (6a-6a) in both the key demo and among total viewers with CNN averaging 190k adults 25-54, a 24% advantage over MSNBC’s 153k, and had 548k total viewers, 20% more than MSNBC’s 456k. CNN grew +28% in the key demo compared to first quarter a year ago, while MSNBC was up only +12% Fox News was down -18%.

During dayside programming (9a– 5p) CNN Newsroom easily outperformed MSNBC each hour, with MSNBC placing either 3rd or 4th throughout the day during the first quarter. For the quarter among adults 25-54, CNN averaged 181k vs. MSNBC’s 83k and in total viewers, CNN posted 601k vs. MSNBC’s 347k. In addition, CNN increased +30% in the demo during the daytime, while MSNBC increased +12% and FNC was down -20%.


FIRST QUARTER 2011 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight grew the most of any cable news program this quarter, increasing 52% in the key demo compared to CNN programming a year ago (308k vs. 202k). In total viewers, Morgan is also up +23%, Maddow increased +15% and Hannity is down -20% vs. Q1 2010. In addition, Morgan topped MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in the key demo (308k vs. 297k) for the quarter.

CNN’s AC 360 outperformed MSNBC at 10p in both the demo (318k vs. 241k) and total viewers (859k vs. 789k) – with AC 360 growing +40% in the demo while MSNBC increased +22% and FNC was down -28% compared to a year ago.

CNN’s 8 pm program was the only show to grow in the key demo compared to last quarter, increasing +14% (202k vs. 177k), while MSNBC declined -6% (248k vs. 263k) and The O’Reilly Factor lost -18% of its 25-54 audience (770k vs. 937k).

John King, USA at 7 pm bested MSNBC’s Hardball for the quarter in the key demo (201k vs. 193k) and grew +16% compared to a year ago.

The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer also topped MSNBC at 6 pm, increasing its demo audience by +38% (215k vs. 156k) and growing its total viewer audience by +10% (677k vs. 618k) vs. first quarter 2010. And at 5 pm, the Sit Room also topped MSNBC and increased +38% in the demo/+10% in total viewers, while FNC’s Glenn Beck lost -38% of its demo 25-54 audience (481k vs. 776k) this quarter vs. a year ago and is down -31% in total viewers (1.980m vs. 2.851m).


CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE:

CNN reached a cumulative Q1 2011 average monthly audience of 103.9 million, Fox News followed with 86.6 million and MSNBC trailed with 83.2 million.

*****

CNN’S ANDERSON COOPER 360 IS #1 CABLE NEWS PROGRAM AT 10 PM IN MARCH; FNC’S ON THE RECORD SLIPS TO SECOND IN KEY DEMO 25-54 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER TWO YEARS;

CNN Overtakes MSNBC in Primetime for the First Time in 14 Months;

CNN Records Triple-Digit Growth in Primetime and Total Day; while MSNBC Loses Viewers at 8 pm and FNC Loses Viewers in Primetime in vs. a Year Ago

In March, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 was the #1 cable news program at 10 pm in the key demo adults 25-54, overtaking FNC’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren for the first time in 26 months (January, 2009). For the month, AC 360 averaged 496k among adults 25-54, while FNC slipped into second place with 480k and MSNBC’s The Ed Show was a distant third with 266k. Compared to a year ago, the CNN 10 pm program had significant growth, increasing +153% in the key demo (496k vs. 196k) and +66% in total viewers (1.165m vs. 702k). During the heightened news cycle, FNC actually lost viewers at 10 pm, decreasing -13% in the demo (480k vs. 552k) and losing -16% in total viewers (1.802m vs. 2.154m) vs. a year ago.


PRIMETIME:

CNN surpassed MSNBC in M-F primetime for the first time in 14 months (January 2010), averaging 393k in the demo, a 40% advantage over MSNBC’s 280k. CNN also topped MSNBC in total viewers in M-F primetime with 1.013m vs. 992k total viewers. Compared to last year, CNN grew by triple digits in M-F prime, increasing +126% (393k vs. 174k) in the demo and +56% in total viewers (1.013k vs. 648k), while Fox News lost -11% of their demo primetime audience (629k vs. 705k) and was down -13% in total viewers (2.398m vs. 2.751m). MSNBC grew only slightly in primetime during the news-fueled month, increasing +12% in the key demo (280k vs. 250k) and just +8% in total viewers (992k vs. 921k) vs. a year ago.

CNN’s 9 pm program Piers Morgan Tonight outperformed MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show in the demo (380k vs. 338k) in March, growing an impressive +118% vs. CNN programming a year ago and significantly more than Maddow’s increase of +24%, while FNC’s Hannity lost -4% of his demo 25-54 audience. This represents the first time in 14 months that CNN topped Maddow. At 8 pm, In the Arena topped MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (308k vs. 246k) for the month in the demo – this is the first time that CNN has topped MSNBC at 8 pm in over three years (February, 2008). In addition, In the Arena was the only cable news network to grow vs. a year ago at 8 pm – in both the demo and total viewers, increasing +103% in the demo/+51% in total viewers, while Lawrence O’Donnell was down -7%/-9% and The O’Reilly Factor decreased -13%/-11%.


PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMMING:

At 7 pm, John King, USA easily topped MSNBC’s Hardball in both total viewers (850k vs. 722k) and in the demo 25-54 (315k vs. 207k), growing +132% in adults 25-54 and +64% in total viewers vs. a year ago. This represents JK, USA’s best month since launching a year ago among both total viewers and the demo.

CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer at 5 pm also topped MSNBC, increasing +162% in the demo (306k vs. 117k) and +80% in total viewers (972k vs. 539k) compared to last year. FNC’s Glenn Beck continues to experience declines at 5 pm – decreasing 33% in the key demo (514k vs. 763k) and losing one quarter (-25%) of his total viewer audience (2.061m vs. 2.748m) compared to March, 2010. In addition, the Situation Room at 6 pm grew +157% in the demo (332k vs. 129k) and +82% in total viewers (932k vs. 513k).

On Sundays, State of the Union with Candy Crowley at 9 am grew +105% in the key demo (287k vs. 140k) and by +48% in total viewers (711k vs. 479k), and Fareed Zakaria: GPS at 10 am increased +103% in the demo (240k vs. 118k) and +60% in total viewers (597k vs. 372k) vs. last March.


TOTAL DAY:

In total day (6 am-6 am), CNN also had the most growth of all the cable news networks vs. a year ago, increasing +125% in the key demo 25-54 (295k vs. 131k), while MSNBC grew only +20% (159k vs. 133k) and Fox News was down by -2% (345k vs. 353k). In total viewers, CNN was up +67% (766k vs. 459k), MSNBC grew +16% (463k vs. 400k) and FNC decreased -4% (1.234m vs. 1.289m).


MORNING AND DAYSIDE:

CNN’s American Morning placed second for the month of March in both total viewers (473k) and the demo 25-54 (224k), with MSNBC’s Morning Joe slipping to 3rd in total viewers (445k) and dropping to 4th place in the demo (136k).

During dayside programming, CNN Newsroom topped MSNBC each hour (9am-5pm) in both the key demo 25-54 and among total viewers. At 12 noon, CNN Newsroom was #1, topping both Fox News and MSNBC in the demo with 254k vs. 238k/105k respectively. At 3 pm, CNN Newsroom also easily topped MSNBC’s Martin Bashir -- 262k vs. 89k in the key demo 25-54. In head-to-head comparisons with MSNBC’s daytime non-opinion programming CNN almost tripled MSNBC in the key demo (261k vs. 92k) and held a 123% advantage among total viewers (793k vs. 356k).


CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE:

CNN reached a cumulative audience of 114.6 million viewers in March, FNC lagged behind with 89.4 million and MSNBC averaged 84.8 million.


CNN DIGITAL:

CNN.com Sets Global traffic, video and mobile usage records in March.

Traffic:

CNN.com served 67 million global page views on Sat., March 12th, making it the highest weekend day (Sat. or Sun.) in CNN.com’s history.

CNN.com averaged 75 million page views per day, an increase of 66% over last March from Friday, March 11-Sun., March 20.

In March to date, CNN.com has averaged 60 million page views per day, a double-digit increase over Feb. by 25% and over March 2010 by 34%.

Video:

CNN.com served 60 million global video starts on Friday, March 11, the highest level of video usage for a single day in CNN.com’s history (prior high: Obama inauguration).

During the first week of Japan coverage, CNN.com served more than 134 million global video starts, more than the previous 43 days combined.

Mobile:

CNN’s mobile site achieved 13.9 million page views globally on Fri., March 11, the highest single day to date since tracking began in May 2010.