Register

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sends news network ratings up; Nielsen week in review

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments999 Views
    This image taken from video shows NBC News correspondent Richard Engel reporting from the Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (NBC News via AP)

    By David Bauder, Media Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Cable news viewership jumped during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Fox News Channel leading the way and CNN showing the most dramatic increases.

    CNN, Fox and MSNBC collectively averaged 6.4 million viewers in primetime between the start of the war last Wednesday and Sunday night. That's up from their January average of 4 million, the Nielsen company said.

    For the full day between Wednesday and Sunday, Fox averaged 2.32 million viewers, up 64% from the quieter news month of January. CNN's audience soared from 633,000 in January to 1.75 million last week, up 178%. MSNBC had 980,000 for its war coverage, up 51% over January.

    Those numbers match a trend: CNN tends to have the most dramatic increases during big news events while its rivals, more focused on political talk, are steadier in the quiet periods.

    In entertainment, the venerable series "Law & Order" returned last week, with 5.8 million people watching the debut of its revival last Thursday. That along with the "Chicago Fire" and its spinoffs gave the prolific producer Dick Wolf four series in Nielsen's top 12.

    CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 4.5 million viewers. ABC had 3.5 million, NBC had 3.4 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.7 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 1 million.

    Fox News Channel led the cable networks with an average of 3.17 million viewers in primetime. CNN had 1.5 million, MSNBC had 1.39 million, ESPN had 1.15 million and HGTV had 1.1 million.

    ABC's "World News Tonight" won the evening news ratings race with an average of 9 million viewers last week. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.6 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.3 million.

    For the week of Feb. 21-27, the top 20 shows in primetime, their networks and viewerships:

    1. "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.36 million.
    2. "FBI," CBS, 7.33 million.
    3. "The Equalizer," CBS, 7.18 million.
    4. "Chicago Med," NBC, 7.13 million.
    5. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 6.95 million.
    6. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 6.83 million.
    7. "American Idol," ABC, 6.3 million.
    8. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 6.25 million.
    9. "FBI: International," CBS, 6.13 million.
    10. "Chicago PD," NBC, 6.01 million.
    11. "Ghosts," CBS, 5.85 million.
    12. "Law & Order," NBC, 5.8 million.
    13. "Jeopardy! College Championship," ABC, 5.72 million.
    14. "FBI: Most Wanted," CBS, 5.7 million.
    15. "NBC New Special Report: Russia/Ukraine Crisis," NBC, 5.34 million.
    16. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 5.23 million.
    17. "Magnum P.I.," CBS, 5.21 million.
    18. "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 5.15 million.
    19. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 5.14 million.
    20. "911: Lone Star," Fox, 5.13 million.

    Tags:CNNFox NewsMSNBCRussiaUkraine



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment