The second Presidential debate last week once again provided a massive ratings bump for cable news.
Fox News Channel was the number one ad-supported channel in all of cable TV for the week, topping ESPN, USA, TBS and Nickelodeon, among others. FNC was tops in primetime with 3.68 million total viewers, and in total day with 1.67 million viewers. FNC was last number one for the week during the Republican National Convention earlier this year. That said, the channel saw its highest weekly ratings since the 2008 Presidential campaign.
MSNBC also saw a massive bump, placing 6th overall in primetime (ahead of A&E and AMC), and 12th in total day. MSNBC averaged 1.50 million viewers in primetime and 696,000 in total day. CNN also moved up significantly in the ranker, placing 16th in primetime (ahead of Food Network and Discovery Channel) and 24th in total day, averaging 1.11 million viewers and 503,000 viewers, respectively.
HLN was 43rd in both primetime and total day, averaging 284,000 and 213,00 viewers, respectively. Current TV was 91st in primetime and 92nd in total day, averaging 41,000 and 30,000 viewers, respectively.
Among the business channels: CNBC was 50th in primetime and 48th in total day, averaging 223,000 and 268,000 viewers, respectively. Fox Business was 80th in primetime and 74th in total day, averaging 95,000 and 66,000 viewers, respectively. Bloomberg TV hasn’t been rated by Nielsen since it launched in 1994.
The full ranker is below.
All Cable Ranker Week of 10-15-12