The documentary “Blackfish” performed swimmingly for CNN, winning the key news demo in its time slot and proving a big draw among younger viewers.
The CNN Films documentary, which chronicles the plight of captive orca whales, averaged 472,000 viewers in the key 25-54 news demo during its 9 to 11 p.m. airing, besting both Fox News Channel and MSNBC in the demo. (FNC and MSNBC averaged 331,000 and 235,000 viewers in the demo, respectively.)
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In total viewers, Fox News Channel held its traditional lead, averaging 1.89 million, compared to CNN’s 1.36 and MSNBC’s 867,000.
Among the 18-49 demographic, “Blackfish” also performed impressively, with an average 688,000 — besting Fox News and MSNBC’s performance in the demo for that time period combined.
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Anderson Cooper’s special report, “Inside Blackfish,” at 11 p.m. averaged 231,000 demo viewers and 560,000 total viewers — behind Fox News Channel but ahead of MSNBC.
“Blackfish” was the highest rated CNN Film so far this year.