FNC Wins With Top Rated Convention Broadcast in Cable History

By SteveK 

Fox News Channel’s 10pmET hour last night became the top-rated convention broadcast ever on Fox News, and in cable news history.

Featuring Gov. Sarah Palin as the keynote, all networks performed well. But nearly one-quarter of all those who watched the speech last night watched it on Fox News.

FNC eclipsed the broadcast networks and cable competitors, amassing 9,200,000 Total Viewers in the 10-11:15pmET spot. Second place was NBC, with an average of 7,700,000. Third was CNN with 6,200,000, followed by ABC with 5,900,000, CBS with 4,600,000 and MSNBC with 3,400,000.

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With part one of Bill O’Reilly’s Sen. Barack Obama interview airing during the 8pmET hour and Sen. John McCain’s speech airing during the 10pmET hour, FNC’s prime time is set for potentially gigantic numbers again tonight. We’ll keep an eye on the figures as they come in tomorrow.

Other notes about last night, after the jump…


• Last night’s 10pmET program was the third highest rated program in Fox News history, with the first two being debates in 2003 and 2004.

• CNN grew the most of any network in prime time compared to the 2004 RNC, up 277% in Total Viewers and 445% in the A25-54 demo.

• ABC showed the most growth of any broadcast network from its lead-in, up 79% in Total Viewers and 50% in the demo.

• NBC claimed in its press release: “On the third night of the Republican National Convention, 10.977 million Americans turned to the networks of NBC News.” Of course, that includes NBC’s numbers added to MSNBC’s.

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