Lawrence O'Donnell's 8PM Premiere Gets 50% More Viewers Than Olbermann's Average
The folks at MSNBC - and new owners Comcast for that matter - must have been jumping for joy when they saw the Neilsen ratings for their first official night without Keith Olbermann.
As the New York Times reported Tuesday, "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" premiere in "Countdown's" regular 8PM time slot attracted almost 50 percent more viewers than Olbermann has averaged recently:
Lawrence O’Donnell clearly benefited, as he averaged 1.5 million total viewers for his first night as Mr. Olbermann’s replacement. That was up a little under 50 percent from Mr. Olbermann’s average number in that hour, just over 1 million viewers. And yes, Mr. O’Donnell did pay tribute to Mr. Olbermann, saying he owed his introduction to the network to him.
So did the 9 p.m. host Rachel Maddow, and her show was up by about the same amount to 1.4 million viewers for the hour. Both shows dwarfed the numbers for one competitor, CNN, though as usual, they trailed the leading news channel, Fox News.
The folks at TV By The Numbers reported a slightly higher figure than the Times claiming O'Donnell got a total of 1,533,00 viewers. This was larger than the 1,499,000 Olbermann got on November 9 after his brief suspension last year.
This deliciously means that more people tuned in to see Olbermann's replacement than his triumphant return.
The "good news" led Hot Air's Allahpundit to marvelously quip:
Two words, in honor of a guy who used to read the teleprompter on SportsCenter before discovering that he was the modern-day answer to Edward R. Murrow: Wally Pipp.
For those unfamiliar with the name, Wally Pipp was the star New York Yankee first baseman in the early part of the 20th century that not only recruited and talked long-time manager Miller Huggins into signing Lou Gehrig to the team, but also personally helped develop him as a rookie.
On June 2, 1925, Pipp was removed from the Yankee's lineup for a number of historically disputed reasons only to be replaced by - wait for it - Lou Gehrig who of course went on to become one of the greatest players in history competing in 2,130 consecutive games - a record unbroken until Cal Ripken did it in 1995.
For his part, Pipp ended up getting traded to the Cincinnati Reds the following season and retired two years later.
Nicely played, AP. Bravo!
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Comments
Ahh---
Submitted by matthewdean on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 2:56am.
So THAT's the difference between a RANTER !!!!!, and a ranter.
Interesting.
MD
more "teabaggers" than Comcast could handle
Submitted by politicalpaw on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 4:01am.
Larry viewers were just there to see the Olby eulogy..."teabaggers" no more
@keitholbermann EULOGY: http://tinyurl.com/4qhvctp
@davidshuster EULOGY: http://tinyurl.com/4r5fzrg
GOOD RIDDANCE, FOOS'
Wow
Submitted by donabernathy on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 6:13am.
"50% More Viewers Than Olbermann's Average"so.... WHAT?....... 3 people watched the show!!!!
Or is it the same Two that watched Keith and now Keith watches Larry with them while he collects his 99 weeks of unemployment.
roflmao
Good for O'Donnell, BUT...
Submitted by Truestar on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:08am.
I would bet those numbers will fall drastically very soon, because though Olby was an insufferable jerk, at least there was always the spectacle....like watching a trainwreck. On the other hand, O'Donnell seems to me to be quite snooze inducing by comparison. Either way, I think MessNBC will have a lot more housecleaning to do before they ever hope to even compare to Fox in the ratings.
Give O'Donnell a little time
Submitted by another_old_veteran on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:27am.
He can be just as nasty an anus as KO was/is.
“If you take a highly intelligent person and give them the best possible, elite education, then you will most likely wind up with an academic who is completely impervious to reality.” - Halton C. Arp
That doesn't mean anything.
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 7:30am.
That doesn't mean anything. Look at the big numbers KO got when he got back from his "suspension."
Curiosity, nothing else IMO.
He'll tank too.
It's kind of like saying 50% more people would rather have measles than chicken pox.
Militant Homosexuals Attack Sites Of Marines Opposing Repeal Of
Submitted by im41 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:18am.
Militant Homosexuals Attack Sites Of Marines Opposing Repeal Of DADT
http://conservativeblogscentral.blogspot.com/2011/01/militant-homosexual...
Active and non-active solders are trying to organize an opposition to the repeal of Clinton’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” but have been targeted by homosexual activist.
Over 99% of Americans still don't watch.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:22am.
How does a supposedly major TV network exist that 99% of Americans don't watch but pays its announcers/show stars millions? It's got to be losing money or price raping advertisers.
It just seems to be a place where liberals go to talk to themselves.
My advice: Get a room.
Reprehensible
Submitted by gpalmz on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:48am.
ODonnell outsmugs Olbermann (smug is a job requirement at MSNBC); unbelieveably, is even more closeminded because his sources are even narrower, is an even worse hate-mongering bigot, just less rabid. That anyone would tune into this is a frightening Rorschach of the network and the viewers.
Once the curiosity factor
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:52am.
Once the curiosity factor fades, expect the ratings to drop drastically (e.g. -- like a rock in a vacuum).
Like Piers Morgan on CNN?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 11:04am.
Larry King's replacement
So!
Submitted by almostacowboy on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:12pm.
So, now we have a crazy Socialist replacing a crazy Progressive..... wow....what an improvement.........I am underwhelmed.
I guess it is confirmed. The
Submitted by Ashrak on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 11:24pm.
I guess it is confirmed. The majority of the viewers of MSNBC primetime view in order to take notes on the trainwreck it is.
I would offer that MSNBC hosts are the "teachers" of the media world. They have a protected environment where they go unchallenged in positions taken and unaccountable for the poor performance they bring to bear.