Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable network for July 2016, both in prime time and in total day viewers. July represents the third month in 2016 that FNC has won both of the aforementioned dayparts, a record for the network, as mentioned yesterday. FNC averaged over 2 million total viewers in prime time, a 74 percent improvement from July 2015. The network averaged 1.57 million total day viewers, a 60 percent improvement from July 2015.
CNN finished No. 2 in total prime time viewers, and No. 5 in total day viewers for July 2016. An extraordinary month in news boosted CNN to a 203 percent year-over-year improvement in prime time viewers, and a 124 percent year-over-year improvement in total day.
MSNBC finished the month No. 5 in total prime time viewers, and No. 10 in total day viewers. The network delivered a 117 percent year-over-year improvement in prime time viewers, and a 92 percent year-over-year improvement in total day viewers.
The basic cable ranker with specific figures can be seen below:
Cable Network Ranker: July 2016 (Total Viewers)
Week of July 25:
Here’s a sentence one doesn’t read everyday: CNN was the most-watched prime time cable network of the week. Winning the news demo is one thing, but winning the week in total prime time viewers is a rarity. In fact, this is only the second time in the past 14 years that this has happened. Lifted by its coverage of the 2016 Democratic National Convention and other notable world and domestic events, CNN delivered 3.32 million prime time viewers. Fox News finished No. 2 in the daypart with 2.55 million viewers, followed by MSNBC and its 2.49 million viewer average. USA was the most-watched cable entertainment network of the week in prime time, delivering over 1.62 million viewers.
Fox News was the most-watched cable network in total day viewers for the 5th consecutive week, edging CNN by a slim margin. Nickelodeon, MSNBC and Adult Swim rounded out the top five in the 6a-6a daypart.
Top 5 – Primetime (P2+)
- CNN (3,316,000)
- FNC (2,549,000)
- MSNBC (2,487,000)
- USA (1,624,000)
- HGTV(1,522,000)
Top 5 – Total Day (P2+)
- FNC (1,514,000)
- CNN (1,365,000)
- NICK (1,238,000)
- MSNBC (1,065,000)
- ADULT SWIM (1,027,000)