war is good for business

This is from last week, but still worth mentioning. From the New York Times blog Media Decoder:

The intensifying crisis in Egypt continued to provide a boost to CNN’s ratings Wednesday night, especially for its host Anderson Cooper, who has been on the scene in Cairo and in the middle of some the violence directed at Western journalists.

Mr. Cooper’s audience jumped again Wednesday night, to 1.3 million, and most significantly to 541,000 in the group most sought by news advertisers, viewers between the ages of 25 and 54. By comparison, he drew an average of 845,000 viewers each night in January, and 251,000 in the 25 to 54 age group.

The revolution will, in fact, not only be televised, it’ll be packaged for advertisers and marketers. Do you like watching people fight for freedom in Egypt? Then you’ll Sony Pictures exciting new movie Battle: Los Angeles! See the human race fight for freedom! Also: try these new Baharat Flavored Doritos!