Tinkering at CNN fails to dethrone Fox

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Tinkering at CNN fails to dethrone Fox

By MATT KEMPNER Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

CNN needs help from Connie Chung right about now.

The Atlanta-based network still hasn't found a way to catch up with ratings leader Fox News Channel, results released Tuesday show. The high-profile debut of Chung's show brought in additional viewers last week but not a flood -- and not enough to come close to rival Bill O'Reilly, who is host of "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News.

Related: • More CNN and industry news: The CNN Insider Overall, Fox News attracted an average audience of 620,000 people over the last three months, about a fifth larger than CNN's, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers supplied by the networks. CNN averaged 501,000 viewers, and MSNBC had 248,000.

New York-based Fox News has easily held on to the cable news crown it snagged for the first time in January.

It's still too early to tell how Chung's new 8 p.m. show, "Connie Chung Tonight," will fare. TV critics have blasted it or at least said it needs work.

It will need to do a whole lot better to even catch sight of O'Reilly, whose show airs in the same time slot on Fox News and is the top show in all of cable news.

O'Reilly averaged about 1.7 million viewers last week. Chung averaged 773,000, but that was 19 percent higher than CNN averaged earlier in June for the same time period.

CNN, which has been trying to remake itself with star power and promotion, had one of its strongest quarters in years. Its average audience over the last three months was three-fourths bigger than during the same period a year ago.

Ratings help came from last year's hires such as Paula Zahn and business host Lou Dobbs, though Zahn's morning show doesn't draw as many viewers as Fox News' "Fox & Friends" and Dobbs doesn't get as many viewers as Fox News business anchor Neil Cavuto, whose show airs earlier in the day. Another CNN hire, Aaron Brown, is getting increased ratings, but lately they haven't been as high as his rival on Fox News, former CNNer Greta Van Susteren.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2002


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