Overlooked: Networks Also Looking For Your Vote — Jan 16th 2008

By Dakota Smith

MSNBC stars Tim Russert and Brian Williams

Overlooked story: CNN Beats Out Fox News and MSNBC in New Hampsire
Submitted by: TimALoftis

As recent media reports have pointed out, the presidential race isn't just between Hillary, Obama, and McCain, but the three big cable networks: CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. And if CNN has long trailed behind Fox in the ratings race, the network placed first during the recent New Hampshire primary. According to the New York Times, CNN had 3.3 million viewers, nearly double the number of viewers during the 2004 New Hampshire primary, while Fox had 3.06 million viewers and MSNBC, which claimed 1.64 million viewers.

"This was one of the first times that CNN overtook Fox in quite a while," says Steve Krakauer, associate editor at TV Newser. "So it came as a bit of a surprise." According to Krakauer, CNN first raised its profile last summer by broadcasting the YouTube debates. Since then, the network has aggressively marketed itself to viewers, adopting the "Best Political Team" tag line, while bringing in special guests such as Carl Bernstein and Bill Bennett to round out coverage by longtime anchors Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. Additionally, this week CNN announced a new nightly show, CNN Election Center. According to the AP, the show will air opposite competitors Bill O'Reilly on Fox and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

Sharpening its election coverage, Fox has shuffled programming, having Greta Van Susteren and Shepard Smith report together in a pairing that's unique for the network since the two don't usually share air time, according to Krakauer. The network is also prominently featuring longtime duo Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes. For its part, MSNBC is using Tom Brokaw as a special correspondent, while continuing to plug longtime anchors Tim Russert and Brian Williams, as well as Olbermann and Chris Matthews of Hardball.

Increased eyeballs translate to increased advertising dollars for the cable networks, points out Anthony Crupi, senior editor at Mediaweek. And given the WGA strike, is there anything better to watch? According to Crupi, some of the cable networks are quietly pitching the election to advertisers as the "ultimate reality television" show. "The fact that these debates can be factious is helping ratings," says Crupi.

If MSNBC's Russert raised his profile by covering the elections in 2000, and the same gig helped to make Ashley Banfield a star in 2004, there haven't been any breakout stars spotted at the news desk this season, according to Crupi. "My guess is that the networks want to have more established newspeople," says Crupi. "It's such a wide open field, and they want a sense of gravitas."

Nevertheless, with February's Super Tuesday primary elections looming, expect the competition between the networks to heat up as even more viewers to tune in. "People are generally interested in this process," says Crupi.

Tags: election coverage, Overlooked

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