The final 2012 year-end numbers won’t be in until the end of the year, but with only a couple of weeks to go, we have a pretty good sense of where things will end up.
The big takeaways: Fox News Channel will end 2012 as the number one cable news channel for 11 straight years, and the number three ad-supported channel in all of cable TV in primetime. FNC will be up slightly from 2011 in just about every time period and demo. The network will end up with the top 11 cable news shows in total viewers, and the top seven in the adults 25-54 demo.
MSNBC has the most growth of any cable news channel, and will see double-digit improvements in just about every ratings category and time period. “The Rachel Maddow Show” will end the year as the most-watched cable news program not on Fox, placing 12th overall in total viewers, and eighth in the demo.
The big news year was not as big a boon to CNN as some at the network may have liked. The network will end the year down slightly in primetime, and down double digits in total day. The bright spots were in primetime, with “Piers Morgan Tonight” poised to end the year as CNN’s number one program in total viewers, and “AC360” leading the way in the A25-54 demo.
The final Nielsen ratings will be in at the end of the year, so things could change (though not by much), check back then for the numbers.