August 2012 Ratings: Fox News Takes Primetime Hit

By Chris Ariens 

Cable news viewership took a hit in August, mostly due to NBC’s stellar Olympics ratings. Even dominant Fox News saw drops in primetime, down -9% in Total Viewers and down -31% in the demo vs. August 2011. FNC still ranked as the third most-watched cable channel in primetime in August, behind USA and TNT and had the top 10 shows in cable news.

The ratings for August, 2012:

  • Primetime (Mon-Sun): 1,817,000 Total Viewers / 332,000 A25-54
  • Total Day (Mon-Sun): 1,081,000 Total Viewers / 254,000 A25-54

“The O’Reilly Factor” was down -27%, “Hannity” is off -22% and “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” had its worst August in the demo in six years, down -32%. In Total Viewers, “Hannity” was the only primetime show to grow vs. Aug. ’11: up +2%.

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“The Five” continues to show year-to-year growth, up +2% in the demo and up +16% in Total Viewers.

And “Fox & Friends” marks 130 months at #1 and continues to beat MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” HLN’s “Morning Express” and CNN’s “Early Start” combined in Total Viewers.

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