201o was definitely a year to forget for CNN as it suffered the worst average viewership losses of any cable network, both in primetime (8-11pm) and total day (24 hr.) time periods compared with 2009.
If you're looking for the list of cable network viewership gainers, look here.
Top PRIMETIME (8-11pm) average viewership losses 2009 to 2010:
| Net | 2010 Avg. Viewership (000) | 2009 Avg. Viewership (000) | Loss (000) | |
| 1 | CNN | 592 | 903 | -311 |
| 2 | Hallmark | 858 | 1113 | -255 |
| 3 | VH1 | 514 | 742 | -228 |
| 4 | Fox News | 2032 | 2195 | -163 |
| 5 | Spike | 922 | 1065 | -143 |
| 6 | USA | 3157 | 3276 | -119 |
| 7 | HLN | 446 | 561 | -115 |
| 8 | FX | 1271 | 1375 | -104 |
| 9 | Syfy | 1202 | 1279 | -77 |
| 10 | ESPN 2 | 634 | 693 | -59 |
| 11 | SPD | 228 | 280 | -52 |
| 12 | Soap Net | 302 | 353 | -51 |
| 13 | TBC | 1800 | 1847 | -47 |
| 14 | MSNBC | 771 | 811 | -40 |
| 15 | Nat Geo | 424 | 457 | -33 |
| 16 | Lifetime | 1158 | 1188 | -30 |
| 17 | WGNA | 339 | 368 | -29 |
| 18 | Versus | 279 | 307 | -28 |
| 19 | GOLF | 119 | 147 | -28 |
| 20 | GAC | 61 | 82 | -21 |
| 21 | CMT | 383 | 399 | -16 |
| 22 | A&E | 1463 | 1478 | -15 |
| 23 | Comedy | 979 | 994 | -15 |
| 24 | TVGN | 200 | 215 | -15 |
| 25 | WE | 278 | 292 | -14 |
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Top TOTAL DAY (24 hr.) average viewership losses 2009 to 2010:
| Net | 2010 Avg. Viewership (000) | 2009 Avg. Viewership (000) | Loss (000) | |
| 1 | CNN | 433 | 607 | -174 |
| 2 | Hallmark | 481 | 628 | -147 |
| 3 | USA | 1413 | 1523 | -110 |
| 4 | VH1 | 304 | 400 | -96 |
| 5 | Spike | 589 | 673 | -84 |
| 6 | Lifetime | 680 | 747 | -67 |
| 7 | Fox News | 1133 | 1196 | -63 |
| 8 | TBS | 924 | 961 | -37 |
| 9 | HLN | 276 | 309 | -33 |
| 10 | FX | 699 | 730 | -31 |
| 11 | Discovery | 697 | 720 | -23 |
| 12 | Syfy | 544 | 567 | -23 |
| 13 | SPD | 138 | 160 | -22 |
| 14 | Versus | 98 | 120 | -22 |
| 15 | GOLF | 71 | 88 | -17 |
| 16 | CNBC | 207 | 223 | -16 |
| 17 | Soap Net | 168 | 184 | -16 |
| 18 | TVGN | 95 | 111 | -16 |
| 19 | GAC | 47 | 60 | -13 |
| 20 | Style | 102 | 114 | -12 |
| 21 | Food Network | 682 | 693 | -11 |
| 22 | CMT | 219 | 230 | -11 |
| 23 | truTV | 737 | 746 | -9 |
| 24 | Nat Geo | 247 | 255 | -8 |
| 25 | VH1C | 27 | 31 | -4 |
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All are individual broadcast “Most Current” measurement, which are Live+7 Day Ratings for most shows except the late December football games, for which they are Live + Same Day ratings.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2011 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
While different cable networks target different age/gender demographics for advertising sales, I figured the best way to show overall annual gains/losses was via average viewership changes. Doing gainers and losers lists for each demo group we have numbers for would prove ungainly.
