Strong Ratings for Piers Morgan's Debut - New York Times (blog)

CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" premiered to 2.1 million viewers on Monday, according to preliminary ratings from The Nielsen Company.

CNN said that Mr. Morgan's audience was 219 percent bigger than the channel's average audience during the fourth quarter of last year, when "Larry King Live" ended after 25 years. The channel averaged 657,000 in the time slot in that quarter.

Mr. Morgan's first night was extensively promoted by CNN. And his first guest, Oprah Winfrey, is a proven ratings draw. Still, the overnight ratings are sure to be celebrated at the beleaguered cable news channel.

When Mr. King was on at 9 p.m., CNN generally placed third among the cable news channels, behind the Fox News Channel and MSNBC. On Monday, with Mr. Morgan and Ms. Winfrey, CNN placed second. Fox remained in first place: Sean Hannity, who interviewed Sarah Palin, averaged 2.36 million viewers. MSNBC dropped to third place: Rachel Maddow, who interviewed Michael Moore, averaged 1.11 million viewers.

Of course, the true test for Mr. Morgan will come not on night one or night two, but weeks and months from now. As Monday's New York Times reported, Mr. Morgan knows he will be judged on whether he improves CNN's ratings in the 9 p.m. hour over the long haul. "If I do, I'm a genius. If I don't, I'm a half-wit. There is no middle ground," he said in an interview last week.