Fox is the undisputed king of cable news: Since the election, the viewerships of both CNN and MSNBC have dipped 22 and 18 percent respectively, while Fox’s has held nearly steady, losing only 3 percent. It still beats both of its rivals combined, on average. But the death of Michael Jackson yesterday proved one thing: When watchers want breaking news fast and straight, they go to CNN. From 6 p.m. onward, when the news of Jackson’s health crisis began to spread, CNN began to pull ahead of Fox News, eventually clobbering it by a million viewers in the 8 to 11 p.m. hours. Of course, that just might be because people expect some (but not all) of CNN’s anchors to have, at one point or another in their lives, actually enjoyed a song by Michael Jackson.
CNN Wins With Michael Jackson News [TVNewser/Mediabistro]
