CNN knows how to have fun on New Year’s Eve, and that fun showed up in the ratings. The duo of Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin propelled CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live to the No. 1 spot in cable news in total viewers, among A25-54 and A18-34 during the 11 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. time period.
Fox News’ All-American New Year with Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric Bolling also set series records, and beat CNN in total prime time viewers (8 – 11 p.m.) and in total viewers during the 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. total coverage time period.
Dec. 31, 2016 | 11 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. ET:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 | A18-34 |
| CNN | New Year’s Eve Live | 3.04 M | 1.29 M | 449,000 |
| Fox News | All-American New Year | 2.75 M | 734,000 | 234,000 |
Per Nielsen live+same-day data, Saturday night was the best ever performance for CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live in A25-54. The program also improved +20 percent in total viewers, +30 percent in A25-54 and +40 percent in A18-34 from this particular time period in 2015.
All-American New Year and New Year’s Eve Live both delivered improvement from last year, but the time period being measured is not exactly the same as last year’s. The primary New Year’s Eve coverage period for 2015 was 11:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
Here’s a look at CNN and Fox News’ prime time figures:
Dec. 31, 2016 | 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 | A18-34 |
| CNN | New Year’s Eve Live | 1.32 M | 508,000 | *na |
| Fox News | All-American New Year | 1.60 M | 392,000 | *na |
Dec. 31, 2016 | 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET:
| Network | Program | Total Viewers | A25-54 | A18-34 |
| CNN | New Year’s Eve Live | 1.92 M | 785,000 | *na |
| Fox News | All-American New Year | 1.95 M | 504,000 | *na |
Fox News beat CNN in total prime time viewers (8 – 11 p.m.) and in total viewers during the 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET time interval. CNN remained No.1 in the ad-friendly A25-54 news demo.
Compared to last year’s entire program block (8 p.m. – 1 a.m.), CNN New Year’s Eve Live grew +17 percent in total viewers and +26 percent in adults 25-54. All American New Year showed more year-over-year growth in this daypart, +50 percent in total viewers and +118 percent in the key news demo.
The highly-publicized CNN’s New Year’s Live with Brooke Baldwin & Don Lemon (12:30 – 1 a.m.) delivered 2.12 million total viewers, 940,000 from A25-54 and 361,000 in 18-34. The program also ranked No.1 in cable news across all demos.
We will add ratings for the broadcast specials on ABC, NBC and FOX when we receive them.