CNN may be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but that’s about all they have to be happy about these days.

According to the latest Nielsen Media Research, MSNBC beat CNN in primetime in the first half of 2010 among both total viewers and in the key adult demographic. MSNBC also beat CNN in primetime for second quarter of 2010. Year to date, MSNBC is on track to beat CNN for the second year in a row among Adults 25-54 and for the first time ever among total viewers.

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is pacing to beat CNN for the year for the first time since 2000 in its time period. Meanwhile, CNN’s “Larry King Live” and “Campbell Brown” had their worst quarters ever among both Adults 25-54 and total viewers. This was CNN’s worst performance in primetime in nine years, since 2Q 2001.

CNN isn’t the only one losing viewers these days. Turns out all three major broadcast network evening news programs were down in 2Q 2010 compared to the same period last year.

WHC Insider News Media 2010, 2Q, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, Nielsen, Primetime, ratings

Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron with DC influentials at Cafe Milano.

The three-year agreement with ABC comes after the pageant’s nearly six-year absence from network TV due to record low ratings. Since 2004, the pageant had been aired on cable channels CMT and TLC.

Though happy with the deal, Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, declined to discuss the specifics.

“It’s a wonderful deal,” Haskell said to the Associated Press. “It’s much better than any deal we’ve had in the last five years.”

In light of the recent spat between Miss America and Miss USA, Haskell says that this deal will reposition the pageant to separate itself from its competitor, which is owned in a joint venture between Donald Trump and NBC.

“No little girl walks around saying, ‘I want to be Miss USA when I grow up.’ She says, ‘I want to be Miss America,’” said Haskell.

Read more about the agreement in The Washington Post.

abernson News Media ABC, Caressa Cameron, Miss America, Sam Haskell

Remarks Suggest President is Open to an Investigation

April 21 — Press secretary Robert Gibbs faced persistent questioning from the White House press corps, which focused primarily on whether President Obama is now open to possibly holding former Bush administration officials — including the former president — accountable for CIA interrogation methods of suspected terrorists.

In response to reporters after his meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah earlier in the day, Obama said, “If and when there needs to be a further accounting of what took place during this period, I think for Congress to examine ways that it can be done in a bipartisan fashion, outside of the typical hearing process that can sometimes break down and break it entirely along party lines, to the extent that there are independent participants who are above reproach and have credibility, that would probably be a more sensible approach to take.” Read more…

BTriplett Uncategorized ABC, Bush administration, CBS, Chip Reid, Chuck Todd, Jake Tapper, Jordan, King Abdullah, NBC, Robert Gibbs, White House correspondents