HLN Nearly Triples Audience Since 2005 Revamp

Celebrating the fifth anniversary of its revamp to opinion-based programming in primetime, HLN (formerly Headline News) continues to score impressive ratings across the board. Comparing the year prior to the February 2005 launch of Nancy Grace and Showbiz Tonight (2004) to its most recently completed year (2009), the network has tripled its primetime audience (M-F/8-11 pm) in total viewers (659k vs. 211k/+212%), and nearly tripled its audience among 25-54 (250k vs. 84k/+198%). 2009 marked HLN’s third consecutive year of growth in total day and prime and its best year on record.

In February, Morning Express with Robin Meade scored its best ratings in history in both the demo 25-54 (206k) and total viewers (342k) ranking second in the morning and outperforming MSNBC’s Morning Joe by 94%. Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell at 7 pm placed second among adults 25-54 for the second consecutive month (151k), while Hardball (7 pm) slipped to 4th place (141k). At 9 pm, The Joy Behar Show was the only program to show growth among total viewers, increasing 13% versus year-ago.