Hosted by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter on Monday, "Crossfire" placed third in total viewers and second in the key 25-54 age demographic. Its ratings were up about 45% from the previous four Mondays at 6:30 p.m., but it was aided by the end of summer and a big lead-in - a presidential interview.
Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier quadrupled "Crossfire" in total viewers, and more than doubled it in the key demo. Fox was also coming off a presidential interview at the top of the hour.
Here are the numbers for the 6:30-7 p.m. slot:
- Fox News "Special Report" - 2,402,000 total viewers; 384,000 in the 25-54 demo
- MSNBC's "
Politics Nation" with Al Sharpton - 617,000 total viewers; 116,000 in the 25-54 demo - CNN's "Crossfire" - 581,000 total viewers; 171,000 in the 25-54 demo
As always, it's hard to make broad judgments about a show's ratings after one episode. CNN moved up "Crossfire's" premiere, though, which was scheduled to come Sept. 16. But even amid the buzz and the furious news cycle, it premiered to a rather soft landing.