CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck falsely claimed that “in the last 10 shows or in 10-day period ... [o]ut of 10 shows, seven times we beat [MSNBC's] Hardball with Chris Matthews,” which airs during the same time slot as Beck's program. But according to Nielsen ratings figures, in the previous 10 shows, Hardball -- as well as competitors on CNN and Fox -- had both a larger total audience each day than Glenn Beck and a larger audience in the key 25- to 54-year-old marketing demographic for seven of those 10 days.
Despite drawing smaller audience than nearly all of his competitors, Beck falsely claimed his CNN Headline News program “beat Hardball ” seven of 10 times
Written by Julie Millican
Published
On the August 7 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn Beck declared that his CNN Headline News television program, Glenn Beck, was “having incredible ratings things” and falsely claimed that “in the last 10 shows or in 10-day period ... [o]ut of 10 shows, seven times we beat [MSNBC's] Hardball with Chris Matthews,” which airs during the same time slot as Beck's program. Beck continued, asserting, "[F]rom what I understand, we are the youngest, wealthiest, most educated audience in all of cable news." In fact, in the past 10 days for which data are available, Hardball drew more viewers each day and had a larger audience in the key 25- to 54-year-old marketing demographic for seven of those 10 days. Moreover, in that 10-day period, Hardball averaged nearly twice as many total viewers as Glenn Beck, and Beck's program was consistently ranked near the bottom of his show's time slot, beating only CNBC's Mad Money.
According to Nielsen Media Research, from July 24-28 and July 31-August 4 (the past 10 days for which ratings data are available), Hardball had a larger total audience than Glenn Beck each day, averaging 315,000 total viewers compared with Beck's 182,000. In the 25- to 54-year-old marketing demographic, Hardball also had more viewers, averaging 124,000 to Beck's 96,000, although Glenn Beck did draw a larger audience in the 25-54 demographic for its July 26-28 editions. For the month of July, Hardball outperformed Glenn Beck in both total viewers and in the 25-54 demographic, averaging more than 100,000 more total viewers than Beck's program -- 302,000 vs. 183,000 -- and 17,000 more viewers in the 25-54 demographic, but significantly trailing CNN and Fox. The Nielsen ratings also show that Glenn Beck consistently ranks as one of the least-watched cable news programs during its time slot, 7 p.m. ET. Fox News' Fox Report with Shepard Smith, CNN's The Situation Room, and Hardball all regularly outperform Glenn Beck, with only Mad Money trailing Beck in the ratings.
The following charts details each day's audience size for Hardball and Beck. The numbers highlighted in red indicate which show drew the most viewers that day.
Total views over most recent 10 shows
Date
Glenn Beck
Hardball
7/24
223,000
336,000
7/25
169,000
409,000
7/26
212,000
313,000
7/27
217,000
319,000
7/28
203,000
263,000
7/31
219,000
360,000
8/1
143,000
280,000
8/2
108,000
285,000
8/3
181,000
294,000
8/4
145,000
291,000
25-54 demographic
Date
Glenn Beck
Hardball
7/24
107,000
140,000
7/25
77,000
173,000
7/26
120,000
76,000
7/27
123,000
113,000
7/28
108,000
76,000
7/31
128,000
157,000
8/1
75,000
138,000
8/2
83,000
132,000
8/3
62,000
126,000
8/4
79,000
109,000
As illustrated by the chart below, in the most recent 10-day period for which statistics were available, Glenn Beck came in fourth in audience size among the five cable news programs that share its time slot.
Show
25-54 demographic, average number of viewers
(July 24-28 and July 31- August 4)
Average total viewers
(July 24-28 and July 31- August 4)
Fox Report with Shepard Smith
413,000
1,376,000
Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
278,000
757,000
Hardball with Chris Matthews
124,000
315,000
Glenn Beck
96,000
182,000
Mad Money*
34,000
unknown
From the August 7 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:
BECK: We just got research back from Headline News on the TV show. The people who are watching this TV show of ours, which, by the way -- just having tremendous ratings at Headline News. We have beaten -- I think in the last 10 shows or in 10-day period -- I don't know. I don't know how TV ratings work, exactly. But out of 10 shows, seven times we beat Hardball with Chris Matthews, which has been on forever. We've just had some just incredible ratings things. We are the -- from what I understand, we are the youngest, wealthiest, most educated audience in all of cable news.
* Data for Mad Money are available only for July 26 and 28, and August 1, 2, and 3