CNN: "We're No. 1!" ... Kinda

(MoneyWatch)  So, it looks like CNN has decided not to take the drubbing its getting in the ratings -- and the press -- lying down. It's started to run an online ad that boldly makes the claim, "CNN delivers more news to more people, in more ways. MSNBC and Fox News aren't even close."

That's funny. Wasn't I just reading -- and blogging about -- the fact that CNN was now the no. 4 cable news network behind even its own HLN (Headline News)? Yeah, right. I was. In October, CNN averaged 202,000 viewers in primetime in the 25 to 49 to Fox News' 689,000. Things are so bad, in fact, that "Anderson Cooper 360" was recently beat by a rerun of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Is the network that prides itself on sticking with the facts not doing so in its advertising? Well, probably not. If you read the fine print -- which most of us don't -- you'll find CNN is talking more obscure metrics than primetime TV viewership. In fact, the entire text of the landing page lists CNN viewership data across nine different types of media. Here is a sampling of the stats in the ad, along with each data point's "#1" context helpfully provided by CNN:

• 72.1 million TV viewers (#1 vs. Fox News and MSNBC)
• 1.4 billion Web usage minutes (#1 among news and information sites)
• 4.5 million video podcast users (#1 among all media news organizations)
• 10.8 million Mobile Web users (#1 among all news and current events sites).

The tagline at the bottom is "CNN: The Worldwide Leader in News."

So what's at work here is a positioning of CNN not as a cable news brand, but as a global, multi-platform one, which is something MSNBC and Fox can't complete as well on. (As one example, CNN's paid app is the most popular in the news category at the iPhone app store; iFoxNews comes in fourth; and MSNBC.com is the ninth most popular free app.)

In many ways, this is a smart move, and certainly a way to strike back at those who think of these news brands in the narrow confines of cable TV. The problem is that these great numbers don't yet translate into the kind of money that will replace any sluggishness in TV. It's a bit antithetical as media consumption moves multi-platform, but from a bottom line standpoint, and a PR standpoint, adults 25-49 -- the demo most reporters were focusing on when they described CNN's also-ran U.S. TV status -- is still where it's at.

Previous coverage of CNN at BNET Media:

• Why CNN Is, Or At Least Has Been, Happy To Be Non-Partisan
• CNN, Why Are You Telling Viewers to Go Watch the World Series on Fox?
• CNN Still First in Cable News, Depending on What You Mean By "Cable News"