MSNBC Posts First-Ever Quarterly Victory Over CNN In Prime

MSNBC Out-Rates CNN in 2Q in Both Total Viewers and A25-54 For First Time in Weekday Primetime

MSNBC #1 News Network Among Young Viewers, Adults 18-34, in Primetime

"Countdown with Keith Olbermann" Continues to Dominate Over CNN's "Campbell Brown"

For the first time ever, MSNBC notched a quarterly victory over CNN in weekday primetime for 2Q09 in both total viewers and Adults 25-54, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. MSNBC was also the number one cable news network among younger viewers, Adults 18-34, in primetime in second quarter. For 2Q09, MSNBC also beat CNN at 8 p.m. among both total viewers and A25-54 with "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Following are MSNBC ratings highlights for 2Q09:

* For the first time ever, MSNBC beat CNN in weekday primetime for 2Q09 (M-F, 8-11 p.m. ET) in total viewers (946,000 vs. 939,000) and among Adults 25-54 (289,000 vs. 261,000). MSNBC is up 18 percent in total viewers vs. 2Q08 (946,000 vs. 801,000) while CNN is down -10 percent.

* Additionally, in M-S Primetime, MSNBC beat CNN for the quarter among A25-54 (264,000 vs. 240,000).

* For the first half of 2009, MSNBC is beating CNN among A25-54 in primetime. Weeknights MSNBC is averaging 338,000 to CNN's 325,000 and for the full week MSNBC is winning 303,000 vs. 291,000.

* MSNBC was the number one cable news network among younger viewers for 2Q09, Adults 18-34, in 2Q09, in M-F and M-Su primetime. MSNBC was also number one in A18-34 at 8 p.m. with "Countdown."

* "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" continues to drive MSNBC primetime, out-rating "Campbell Brown" by a huge 65 percent among A25-54 (350,000 vs. 212,000) and by 51 percent in total viewers (1,159,000 vs. 769,000) in 2Q09. "Countdown" is up 7 percent in total viewers (1,159,000 vs. 1,081,000) for the quarter, while "Campbell Brown" is down -4 percent in total viewers.