Viewers flocked to Cable News Network Saturday for its coverage of the
space-shuttle Columbia breakup.
The network pulled a 3.2 rating from 9:15 a.m. to noon Saturday, topping Fox
News Channel's 2.6 and MSNBC's 0.3 during the same period.
Fox News has dominated the all-news ratings battle in the past year, but
CNN's performance strengthened its argument that it is the network viewers turn
to during a crisis.
CNN and Fox News each posted a 1.6 rating in the total-day period Saturday,
but CNN (1.9 million) topped Fox News (1.8 million) in total viewers. MSNBC had
a 0.8 rating and 775,000 viewers.
In primetime, CNN posted a 1.6 rating, beating Fox News (1.3) and MSNBC
(0.8).
CNN also won on Sunday, generating a 1.0 total-day rating, topping Fox News
(0.9) and MSNBC (0.5).
In primetime Sunday, CNN generated a 1.2 rating, beating Fox News (0.9) and
MSNBC (0.5).
