By Brain Stelter | The New York Times
(Editor’s note: RLG Founder and President Jordan Rose is a commentator on the trial for HLN)
The cable news channel HLN, which had some of its highest ratings during the trial of Casey Anthony two years ago, has become fixated on another: the trial of Jodi Arias, a woman accused of killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in Arizona in 2008.
The length of the trial — it is about to enter its 12th week — has had a kind of snowball effect, helping the channel entice new viewers. “This trial has lasted much longer than we ever anticipated, and it’s been richer and deeper than we would have ever imagined,” said Scot Safon, the executive in charge of HLN, which is a sister channel to CNN and is owned by Time Warner.
By some measures, the channel’s ratings are almost back to where they were when Ms. Anthony stood accused of killing her daughter, Caylee. It seems that the HLN segment in January that asked, “Is Jodi Arias the Next Casey Anthony?” has been answered, at least from the channel’s point of view.
On Wednesday, when HLN added a temporary 10 p.m. talk show about the trial, it outperformed CNN, MSNBC and Fox News in the 25- to 54-year-old age group, which it rarely does. It also came close to beating Fox for the full day in that group, thanks to daytime trial coverage. The ratings were almost as strong on Thursday. (Friday’s ratings will be released later this week.)
