MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show overtook Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor to claim first place on the Experian Hitwise list of cable-news-show websites for the week ending March 12, dropping O’Reilly to second. The No. 3 slot went to MSNBC’s Meet the Press.
CBS was once again the top broadcast-network website, but Fox and ABC swapped positions, with Fox climbing to second and Fox dropping to third. Fox’s American Idol held on to first place on the list of broadcast-show websites, with CBS’ NCIS moving up to No. 2, and third place going to CBS’ Survivor. Fast risers were NBC’s The Event (to No. 10 from No. 53), and ABC’s Secret Millionaire (22 from 39).
The top three cable-show websites were unchanged from the week ending March 5: MTV’s Jersey Shore, and Comedy Central’s South Park and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Fast risers were Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County (10 from 22), Meet the Press (21 from 34), and Lifetime Television’s Coming Home (25 from 57).
When combining broadcast and cable shows, the top two were unchanged from the previous week — American Idol and Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants — while Jersey Shore surged into third place. The only fast riser was VH1′s Basketball Wives (20 from 36).
Experian Hitwise said data were not available for late-night and morning talk shows.
