“The 1/2 Hour News Hour” Draws 1.5 Million Viewers; Matches Average Daily Show, Exceeds Average Colbert Show
May 19, 2011
RUSH: The ratings are in for “The 1/2 Hour News Hour,” and I think you’d like to hear about this. “The 1/2 Hour News Hour” drew one and a half million viewers, which exceeded expectations. For Sunday night at ten o’clock on cable, these are what we in the broadcast business call “kick-ass” numbers.It’s just a hundred thousand viewers less than The Daily Show which airs — I don’t even know what time, I’ve never seen it, but it’s Monday through Friday on Comedy Central. It’s a larger audience than the Colbert Report, and built on its lead-in, so that’s always great — “spiked” is the broadcast term for that. The time slot for “The 1/2 Hour News Hour” Sunday night on Fox was up 69% in viewers, 94% in the 25-54 demographic, compared to one year ago. So that’s excellent news. You people out there made that happen.
