Keach Hagey says
the numbers were good for Keith Olbermann's premiere on Current TV:
Ratings for splashy debuts should be taken with a grain of salt – especially ones as heavily promoted as Keith Olbermann’s debut on Current TV last night – but even with that grain, Current’s big bet on Olbermann is looking sound.
“Countdown” drew 179,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic – not enough to beat MSNBC’s 237,000 viewers, but enough to beat CNN’s 89,000.
O'Reilly (as always) led the pack and Current did not release its total viewers, but given that Current is not as widely available as its competition, these numbers bode well for Countdown's future.
It's not clear if the ratings came at MSNBC's expense; the previous Monday, MSNBC actually had 71,000 fewer viewers in the demo at 8PM than it did this week. Indeed, its viewership was lower than Olbermann's.