Hannity Trumps Competition With September Victory in the Demo

By A.J. Katz 

A trio of September appearances from Donald Trump undoubtedly lifted Sean Hannity to the top of the cable news summit this month. Hannity averaged 525,000 viewers from the key A25-54 demo in September, per Nielsen data, more than any other program on cable news and ahead of The Kelly File, The O’Reilly Factor, The Rachel Maddow Show and Special Report with Bret Baier. September marks the first time Hannity won the demo since he moved to the 10 p.m. hour back in 2013.

The Five finished No.5 in the A25-54 demo, followed by On the Record with Brit Hume, which improved 12 percent in total viewers and +22 percent in the news demo compared to September 2015. September was Hume’s first month as host of On the Record.

The 11 p.m. repeats of The Factor, CNN Tonight with Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper 360 round out cable news’ A25-54 top 10.

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Hannity may have won the demo, but The O’Reilly Factor finished September as cable news’ most-watched show once again, averaging 2.9 million total viewers in the 8 p.m slot. The Kelly File remained in the No. 2 spot in total viewers, followed by Hannity, Special Report, and The Five. Fox News had the 6 most-watched programs in cable news, with Rachel Maddow making her way into the No. 7 spot thanks to a huge month.

Neil Cavuto made his return to Fox after a lengthy medical absence, and Your World took the No. 8 spot in total viewers. America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum, and Outnumbered round out the monthly top 10.

MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, All in with Chris Hayes, and Hardball with Chris Matthews all found spots in cable news’ 20-most-watched for September, as did CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.

Morning Express with Robin Meade was HLN’s No. 1 program for the month, both in total viewers and in the key A25-54 demo.

Shark Tank remained CNBC’s No. 1 show for the month of September, followed by Undercover Boss, Squawk on the Street, The Profit and Power Lunch in that order.

Lou Dobbs Tonight had a big September, and was Fox Business’s No. 1 program for the month. Varney & Co. followed close behind.

*It’s important to note that these rankings exclude breaking news and specials.

 

Sep ’16 cable news show ranker (Total Viewers)

 

Sep ’16 cable news show ranker (Adults 25-54)

 

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