The Hollywood Reporter (emphasis mine):
Keith Olbermann’s Countdown on Current finished the week ahead of CNN in news’ target demographic of 25-54-year-olds. According to Nielsen, Countdown averaged 131,000 viewers in the demo for the week ending June 24, while CNN’s In the Arena pulled in 117,000 demo viewers.
Arena host Eliot Spitzer was on vacation last week. And CNN beat Current in total viewers in the 8 p.m. hour averaging 379,000 viewers to Current’ 354,000. Countdown did trend down after its June 20 premiere, which drew 179,000 viewers in the demo. But the ratings nevertheless are a victory for the network, which averaged 30,000 viewers in primetime for the first quarter 2011. And Current is in nearly 40 percent fewer homes than CNN.
That last line is the key here. Not only is Current not available in as many homes, it's also harder to find than CNN. But over time, with a programming lineup anchored by Keith Olbermann, as viewers demand access and availability to Current, they're going to get it. And the ratings will continue to climb. We're at the early stages of something really big. And it's off to a strong start.