The first quarter of 2012 was definitely less eventful than the first quarter of 2011, and as a result Fox News and CNN both placed lower on the ranker than they did last March. Some things remain familiar however, as Fox News remained the top cable news channel in Q1.
FNC placed fifth in primetime and sixth in total day among ad-supported cable networks with 1.91 million and 1.07 million viewers respectively.
MSNBC placed 25th in primetime with 825,000 viewers and 28th in total day with 458,000.CNN placed 28th in primetime and 29th in total day with 755,000 and 434,000 viewers, respectively. Current TV placed 88th in primetime with 58,000 viewers, and 94th in total day with 25,000. This week marks the first week that Current will have original dayside programming, so that may affect its ratings going forward.
As for the business networks, CNBC placed 49th in primetime and 47th in total day, drawing 238,000 and 184,000 viewers, respectively. Fox Business Network placed 89th in primetime with 51,000 viewers, and 84th in total day with 55,000. Bloomberg TV is still unrated by Nielsen, and has not been rated since launching in the mid-1990’s.
In March, 2012, the story was very much the same. Both the Q1 and march cable network rankers are below.