So much for the theory that hiring a curmudgeonly news buffoon to host a show on your fledgling cable station would be ratings gold.
Ratings for Current’s new incarnation of Countdown With Keith Olbermann were bound to fall in the show’s second week as the curiosity factor wore off and people began their July 4 vacations. Still, the numbers from last week are bracing: Olbermann attracted an average of 93,000 viewers in its target 25-54 demo, down 29% from the first week. The total audience, at 253,000, was down 28.5%. The numbers account for people who watched the 8 PM ET broadcast live, or the same evening on their DVRs.
Current has little reason to be alarmed just yet. It’s attracting far more than the average of 15,000 viewers who tuned in to the time slot during the four weeks before Olbermann moved in. Last Wednesday’s broadcast handily beat Eliot Spitzer on CNN’s In The Arena.
In related news, CNN has now hit absolute rock bottom.
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UPDATE (TRS): It get’s worse for CNN. Client #9 has just been kicked out of the arena and his show has just been canceled.
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