Was anyone watching Cable News yesterday? That’s kind of a trick question, as a lot of cable news (especially MSNBC), was out back at the BBQ and not on TV. So, on a day where no one was around, we have Greta Van Susteren winning best hour and CNN International winning the day.
It’s like a throwback to a world where Bernard Shaw manned the anchor desk in Atlanta.
When “Beach” and “Sand” are bigger than ISIS on Cable News Twitter, you know it’s a holiday weekend. Have a good one, everyone.
What an interesting Sunday! The Melissa Harris-Perry Show had the best hour, but Meet The Press had the best day — with a big caveat. Absent that caveat, The MHP Show won best day as well.
Here’s the caveat: most of Meet The Press’s Twitter traffic was generated from the broadcast on local NBC affiliates starting at 9am eastern. Still, there was a considerable boost at 2pm ET when it played on MSNBC — and at 3pm ET when they ran the Meet The Press Extra show about Rand Paul.
Here’s a breakdown of the mention counts:
| Hour of Day (Eastern) | # of Meet The Press Mentions |
| 8 | 96 |
| 9 | 421 |
| 10 | 605 |
| 11 | 721 |
| 12 | 592 |
| 13 | 655 |
| 14 | 416 |
| 15 | 281 |
| 16 | 95 |
A week ago, the mentions during the NBC broadcast were higher (e.g., 951 in the 11am hour), but the mentions on MSNBC were a bit lower (323 + 212 in the 2pm and 3pm hours).
Next week Chuck Todd takes the helm at MTP. We’ll see how he does; I expect at least a one week surge in mentions.
ISIS continued to be the top topic in Cable News Twitter on Saturday. It was not as dominant as before, however, suggesting that the news is quieting down for the moment. I would be happy to see ISIS recede as a topic were it not for 9/11 being less than two weeks away. Is the quiet a real trend? Or are the next 10 days just that point in time when the tide pulls way out right before the tsunami hits?
Cashin’ In won Saturday, taking both best hour (with a half-hour show) and best day overall. The Melissa Harris-Perry Show did respectably well in the same time-slot, getting about 2/3rds as many mentions (albeit taking the full hour to do so).
It’s impressive to see both shows doing so well on a holiday weekend ….
Have a fun and safe Labor Day, everyone!