CNN Beats All Other Cable Newsers Combined For WHCD — Comes in 2nd Only To NBA Playoffs

CNN’s ratings beat all its cable news competitors for their WHCD coverage and came in second in all of cable television Saturday night, behind the NBA playoff game on TNT.

Saturday night saw the big annual mix of politics and celebrity that the world calls the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. This year’s event featured headliner and Daily Show star Roy Wood Jr. following the (once again) customary speech by the president.

All three cable news networks covered the dinner, as did C-SPAN and a host of live streams. But among the big three cable newsers, CNN emerged victorious, by a wide margin. And the dinner was beaten on all of cable only by Saturday night’s playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors. As it turns out, there were nearly as many dunks at the dinner.

From Nielsen figures via CNN:

CNN’s annual coverage of the 2023 White House Correspondent’s Dinner (Sat, 4/29, 9:30p-11p) delivered 1.42M P2+, ranking #1 in cable news and #2 in all of cable, behind only the NBA Playoffs on TNT.

In the shared 10p cable news coverage block, CNN delivered 1.54M P2+, #1 in cable news and #2 in all of cable (behind TNT), more than FXNC and MSNBC combined (734k and 801k, resp). Among P25-54, CNN delivered 270k in the 10p shared coverage block, #1 cable news, more than FXNC and MSNBC combined (47kand 82k, resp), and #4 in all of cable (behind TNT, tbs and Reelz).

CNN was also #1 in cable news among P25-54 in Total Day (3a-3a) and Prime (8p-11p).

CNN’s coverage included pre-dinner commentary in the studio and red-carpet coverage by Harry Enten.

Biden’s speech began with solemn remarks about detained journalists, and shifted gears into a jokey routine lampooning himself, his opponents, and the press before winding up on another serious note.

Wood’s set was well-received despite material that frequently veered into edginess.

Watch above via CNN.

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