With all eyes on Washington, viewers continue to flock to news channels over entertainment and sports cable networks.
According to the Nielsen weekly rankings, Fox News Channel was the most-watched basic cable network last week in prime time, followed by MSNBC in 2nd place and CNN in 10th. Fox News was also No. 1 in total day viewing, with MSNBC in 3rd, and CNN finishing 5th.
This was Fox News’s 13th straight week at No. 1 in total day. The four episodes that Bill O’Reilly hosted were the top 4 cable news shows last week. (He doesn’t host on Fridays.)
FNC’s big wins come as the cable channel finds itself squarely in the news: O’Reilly is losing advertisers following a New York Times investigation into payments made to accusers; the network was sued Monday by contributor Julie Roginsky who claims sexual harassment and retaliation; and a third woman, a current employee in the accounting department, joined a racial discrimination lawsuit.
Basic Cable Top 5 – Prime time (P2+)
Fox News (2,328,000)
MSNBC (1,744,000)
USA (1,524,000)
HGTV (1,511,000)
ESPN (1,475,000)
Basic Cable Top 5 – Total Day (P2+)
Fox News (1,383,000)
Nickelodeon (1,135,000)
MSNBC (938,000)
HGTV (835,000)
CNN (765,000)
Here’s the cable ranker for the week of March 27, 2017:
Top Cable Networks | Week of March 27, 2017 by tvnewser on Scribd