Laying Less Cable

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cable television viewership declined at the three largest cable networks, according to the Huffington Post, citing a report in Variety.

Fox News Channel remained the alpha dog among its competitors, but experienced a 13 percent drop in its prime time audience compared to a year ago, according to Variety. Likewise, MSNBC was off 29 percent and CNN 15 percent.  HLN actually showed a 21 percent gain over its 2012 audience.

With 2014 being an election year, polarized voters are likely to boost their favorite cable news network ratings.

Fraying Cable News Audience

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Huffington Post reported today that all three major cable news outlets, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, continue to suffer lower ratings than in Election Year 2012, with a notable loss among the age 25 to 54 demographic group that advertisers crave.

Fox sustained a 33 percent drop-off in its viewership, followed by CNN's 28 percent plunge and MSNBC's more modest 4 percent loss, according to the Huffington Post article. Fox News, still in first place among cable news viewers for its 11th straight year, may take note that bloviator Bill O'Reilly's demographic ratings sank 26 percent. Look for his next best-selling historical tome to be entitled: "Who Killed My Show?"

Lest one think the cable audience is smartening up, CNN's sister network, HLN, enjoyed a skyrocketing 17 percent increase in its audience (and a 23 percent boost among age 25-54 viewers) owing to its around the clock coverage of the Jodi Arias murder trial.