It was a slow week for cable TV, and cable news was no exception. While TNT and TBS were boosted somewhat by college basketball, pretty much every channel was down from prior weeks.
Cable news channels were also slow, despite plenty of news from North Korea and elsewhere. Fox News led the way as usual, placing fifth overall in primetime and sixth in total day among ad supported networks, (sixth and seventh among all cable channels) with 1.65 and 1.03 million viewers, respectively.
MSNBC placed 29th in primetime and 33rd in total day among ad-supported nets (30th and 34th among all channels), averaging 604,000 and 346,000 viewers. HLN once again placed ahead of sister network CNN, placing 32nd in prime and 31st in total day (33rd and 32nd among all channels), with 512,000 and 341,000 viewers, respectively. CNN placed 38th in prime and 34th in total day (39th and 35th among all channels), averaging 410,000 and 345,000 viewers, respectively.
Current TV, which will soon become Al Jazeera America, placed last among all cable channels in both primetime and total day, below Nielsen’s minimum accuracy threshold.
For business networks: CNBC led the way as usual, placing 67th in primetime and 55th in total day, averaging 155,000 and 141,000 viewers, respectively. Fox Business placed 91st in primetime and 89th in total day, placing below Nielsen’s minimum accuracy threshold. Bloomberg TV is not rated by Nielsen, and hasn’t been since it launched.