Keith Olbermann's Ratings Fall In Week 2, But No Worries – Yet

Ratings for Current’s new incarnation of Countdown With Keith Olbermann were bound to fall in the show’s second week as the curiosity factor wore off and people began their July 4 vacations. Still, the numbers from last week are bracing: Olbermann attracted an average of 93,000 viewers in its target 25-54 demo, down 29% from the first week. The total audience, at 253,000, was down 28.5%. The numbers account for people who watched the 8 PM ET broadcast live, or the same evening on their DVRs.

Current has little reason to be alarmed just yet. It’s attracting far more than the average of 15,000 viewers who tuned in to the time slot during the four weeks before Olbermann moved in. Last Wednesday’s broadcast handily beat Eliot Spitzer on CNN’s In The Arena. And Olbermann’s June 20 premiere broadcast did better than even Current initially thought: The network reported that the show attracted 179,000 viewers in its demo, but that just included live viewers. When same-day DVR watchers are thrown in, Olbermann drew 245,000 in the 25-54 demo, beating MSNBC with 237,000 and CNN with 89,000. Olbermann has said that he won’t focus on week-to-week ratings while Countdown finds its rhythm, and audience.