Jodi Arias murder trial lifts HLN ratings

HLN should send Jodi Arias a fruit basket and a spa vacation.

The cable channel’s coverage of the Arias murder trial -- she is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend in 2008 at his Arizona home -- gave its first quarter numbers a nice boost, according to Nielsen. In March alone, HLN saw its total day ratings increase by 53% and prime time was up almost 50%. For the first three months, HLN is up 17% in total day and 12% in prime.

For the news channels not obsessing over the Arias trial, it was a tougher quarter. Fox News was in first place as usual, with more than double the audiences of its competitors CNN and MSNBC. But all three networks experienced declines in prime time and key demos.

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Fox News averaged 1.7 million viewers in prime time, off 9% from the first quarter of 2012. MSNBC was down 8% to 755,000 viewers, while CNN dropped 22% to 590,000 viewers.

In total day, Fox News was flat with an average of 1.1 million viewers, while MSNBC was off 6% to 431,000 viewers and CNN fell 7% to just over 400,000 viewers.

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