Brian Williams couldn't do it. Neither could Joe Scarborough, Rita Cosby, Dan Abrams, Ashleigh Banfield, Deborah Norville or Alan Keyes.
But MSNBC's new 9pmET show did.
The Rachel Maddow show topped CNN's Larry King Live in the ad-friendly A25-54 demo during the month of October. King still wins the Total Viewer crown and FNC's Hannity & Colmes is #1 in both measurements.
"We've never had a performance like this in our history," MSNBC president Phil Griffin tells TVNewser. "We tamed the giant of Larry King."Final numbers, which will include this past weekend, will be out tomorrow. But
MSNBC is poised to beat CNN in the demo for three straight hours Monday-Friday — at 7pm (Hardball), 8pm (Countdown) and at 9. "The fact that we did it in the month leading up to the election is so satisfying for everyone who has worked here for the last two years," Griffin says.But now the hard work begins. After the election, some viewers will return to routines that don't include watching cable news every night. "We've got to keep doing what we're doing. We have to be aggressive and we have to stay interesting," Griffin says. "The audience isn't going to stay at these levels but we can keep some of that audience. For once, we have a loyal audience."
Griffin says even he was surprised by Maddow's explosive growth at 9pmET, up 396% year-over-year. "We knew she was going to be good, but right out of the gate to beat Larry King? That was a dream too far."
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/october_ratings_msnbc_we_tamed_the_giant_of_larry_king_98723.asp