Posted on 12/27/2017 4:11:59 PM PST by be-baw
As the year comes to an end, the various cable news networks are touting their respective successes. Fox News is still #1 despite massive changes to its lineup and while MSNBC beat CNN for the year there’s no denying that CNN still had phenomenal numbers. All achievements, worthy of the praise and bluster cable news publicists love to tout in weekly email blasts.
Yet there is one live cable show that bests all of the cable news shows in the key 25-54 and 18-49 demos — in fact, it’s not even close. This program airs live for six hours per week instead of the five for most prime time cable news programs (Don Lemon on CNN is an exception). And it airs in what is typically considered the most challenging prime time slot; nine to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
Live PD on A&E network follows police officers around the country in real time, and in November and December averaged a whopping 957,000 in the key demo (which is consistent with the show ‘s previous ratings).
For comparison: –Rachel Maddow, the highest rated news show in the critical 25-54 demo on cable averaged 652,000 for the same time period according to Nielsen. –Sean Hannity did 631,000 –Tucker averaged 586,000. Furthermore, Live PD more than doubled Chris Hayes (424k) and also Anderson Cooper (432k). The disparity is even greater with all of them in the 18-49 demo.
Now in the spirit of transparency and full disclosure, Dan Abrams hosts Live PD AND owns this site. And before anyone thinks we’re all sitting around analyzing the boss’s TV ratings, lets acknowledge that it was Dan who pointed us to these numbers. That said, the facts are what they are regardless of who flagged them.
There a number of takeaways here, among them the widely talked about need for TV networks to invest in must-watch live programming that isn’t quite the same on DVR — news, sports, and even SNL running live across the country (social media is a critical component too and Live PD and cable news have passionate followings) .
Like news shows, Live PD has a host (Dan) and in-studio analysts covering live events as they unfold and notably many of the producers are news veterans. The show follows six departments live each night bouncing between them depending on what is happening in each city. There are of course many differences from cable news, chief among them that the name Donald Trump only comes up during the occasional DWI assessment when someone who seems particularly inebriated is asked by officers to name the President (yes, some do get it wrong including one response of “George Clinton”).
But even if the topics differ, like cable news Live PD has a live host, remote locations and in-studio expert analysts and ratings that would be the envy of any cable news show. So yes, President Trump has boosted news ratings across the board but there are other ways to do it too.
staged, not live
My husband watches it all the time. I do too. We like it. It is like cops but supposed to be live. I read it is on a delay.
Love Live PD & watch it a lot.
Some live, some delayed a bit. Good stuff.
staged, not live
Some live..some pre-recorded. Who cares? There not interesting police action every second even in the country’s biggest cities even if there was a Live PD cameraman in every patrol car.
I would rather see “pre recorded stops” than just seeing a cop driving around waiting for something to happen.
It’s a really fun show.
“Anyone here familiar with it?”
I have watched it. In some cases they find drugs in automobiles which they have stopped for minor, traffic violations.
Otherwise, I have seen them pull over and ticket an adult, bicycle rider for not having a headlight. If this person had been a child I would agree but this person was an adult.
That smacks of Big Brother overreach!
Also, if someone is standing on a corner or even sitting on a bus stop bench minding his or her own business then Big Brother’s thug is right there to question that person.
That wreaks of Nazi SS troops!
Yep, just like if I get pulled over & ticketed for not wearing a seat belt.
GRRRRRR.........
We have watched it since this Summer. Our local county sheriff dept Greenville SC was featured all Summer. It is really neat to see what they do and see local places featured on tv. In fact, we had a live chase going on right down the street on one show... we were watching it and I turned to my husband and said, “that’s right down the road!” And sure enough, it was! Texted a neighbor friend and she said that they just went racing past her house! They caught the guy who was stealing a trailer. They also feature another SC dept, Richland Co(Columbia).. we are familiar with. We love it.
I’m east of you. :-) Always thought it was interesting they had “2” from SC...
“Staged, not live”
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Sorry but you are wrong on both points. It’s not staged. Some is transmitted live as it is recorded and some is transmitted later after it is recorded. Between “seasons” they rebroadcast episodes as all shows do.
BTW, I watch the show when I can on Fridays and Saturdays, and it’s great!
I love Live PD, it’s my favorite TV show! I especially love the K9’s Flex and Gunner. Belgian Malinois police dogs are the best!
I got into Live PD for a while, but then found it mostly boring because most of it seemed to be about busting people for marijuana possession, which gets old pretty fast.
CSPAN’s Washington Journal is on every morning for two or three hours. It has guests and call ins from listeners. They don’t do ratings because they aren’t a commercial network. I wonder if they have as large a viewership as most cable “news” shows.
Why compare apples and oranges?
I watch it regularly and really enjoy it. You never know what you’re going to get though. Sometimes the whole 3 hours is pretty boring if 95% of it is drug busts resulting from traffic infractions. Other times you might get a live 20 minute high-speed police chase (culminating in a K9 taking down the perp when he bailed and ran) that’ll have you on the edge of your seat.
I used to watch it every morning but the callers became so fanatical during the Bush administration, that I lost intetest. I seldom watch it now.
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