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Anderson Cooper Has Had More Viewers Than Anyone Else On Cable News 2 Nights In A Row

By Glynnis MacNicol | Mar. 17, 2011, 5:31 PM

It's no secret that CNN does well during big breaking news events, but even still a quick look at the ratings during the crisis in Japan reveals they are the go-to destination for viewers. By a lot.

In the last two days Anderson Cooper has had more viewers than anyone else in cable news including Fox powerhouse Bill O'Reilly.

On Wednesday he averaged 916,000 in the 25-54 demo. On Tuesday he averaged 917, 000 at 10pm and 975,000 during a special live 11pm hour. O'Reilly averaged 767,000 and 787,000, respectively.

To give you a sense of how huge this is consider for a moment that a week ago Wednesday Cooper averaged 293,000 in the demo.

Another point of comparison: Last month, during the height of the uprising in Egypt, during which CNN also saw great ratings, Anderson hit a one day high of 541,000.

So yes, it's huge.

Cooper is not the only one at CNN enjoying big ratings. Last night the network topped Fox in primetime. They also did it this past Friday.

In fact, last Friday the entire CNN primetime line-up trumped everyone in the demo: Piers Morgan, beat Sean Hannity and more than doubled Rachel Maddow in the demo, and Spitzer's new show In the Arena beat O'Reilly (it took a nuclear catastrophe...but still).

Both shows have continued to dominate MSNBC this week and in equally surprising news last night even John King USA saw more viewers than Shep Smith's 7pm show. Now that's unusual.