MSNBC Sees 42 Percent More Viewers Than CNN In May

MSNBC continues to out-draw CNN in primetime, finishing May with 42 percent more viewers in weekday primetime, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. This is the fourth consecutive month MSNBC has out-rated CNN in primetime among both Adults 25-54 and total viewers. MSNBC's "Morning Joe," "Hardball with Chris Matthews," "The Ed Show," "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "The Rachel Maddow Show" all out-rated CNN in May. Following are MSNBC ratings highlights:

* MSNBC beat CNN in primetime (M-Su, 8-11 p.m.) in May by 36 percent in A25-54 (231,000 vs. 170,000) and by 26 percent in P2+ (747,000 vs. 595,000). This is the fourth month in a row that MSNBC has outrated CNN in primetime among both P2+ and A25-54. MSNBC also beat CNN in weekday primetime by 34 percent among A25-54 (231,000 vs. 173,000) and by 42 percent in P2+ (862,000 vs. 607,000). This is the 3rd time in four months that CNN has fallen to fourth place in weekday primetime. MSNBC also beat CNN in sales prime (M-Su, 7 p.m.- 2 a.m.) by 27 percent in A25-54 and 19 percent in total viewers.

* "Morning Joe" drew more viewers than CNN's "American Morning" for the third consecutive month (406,000 vs. 353,000).

* "The Ed Show" drew more viewers than CNN at 6 p.m. for the third consecutive month (632,000 vs. 532,000). "The Ed Show" is up more than any other cable news show among A25-54, growing 28 percent versus May 2009 (160,000 vs. 125,000), and is up 24 percent among P2+ (632,000 vs. 508,000).

* "Hardball with Chris Matthews" at 7 p.m. beat CNN's "John King USA" by ten percent in A25-54 (171,000 vs. 156,000) and by 41 percent in P2+ (651,000 vs. 463,000). "John King USA" is down 30 percent versus "Lou Dobbs Tonight" in that time period in May 2009.

* "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" beat CNN's "Campbell Brown" for the 27th consecutive month among both total viewers and A25-54. "Countdown" outrated "Campbell Brown" by 70 percent in A25-54 (250,000 vs. 147,000) and by a huge 112 percent in total viewers (1,031,000 vs. 486,000). The repeat of "Countdown" at 10 p.m. ET tied CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" and ranked #2 for the third month in a row among A25-54 (206,000 vs. 206,000).

* "The Rachel Maddow Show" beat CNN's "Larry King Live" for the fourth month in a row among both total viewers and A25-54, out-drawing King by 48 percent among A25-54 (245,000 vs. 165,000) and by 47 percent among A25-54 (962,000 vs. 653,000). "Maddow" is up seven percent in total viewers versus May 2009 (962,000 vs. 895,000) and is even in A25-54.

* MSNBC was #1 among the news networks in weekend sales prime (7 p.m.-2 a.m.) among A25-54 for the 2nd month in a row.

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