Putting aside special event programming like coverage of the President’s inauguration, January was a typical month for cable news.
The top program in all of cable news in both total viewers and the key adults 25-54 demo was Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” The show averaged 2.86 million total viewers, including 453,000 demo viewers in January. FNC had the top nine programs in total viewers, and the top three in the demo for the month. “The Five” managed to become the number two show on the network in both categories, even topping “Hannity” and “On the Record” in primetime.
The top cable news program not on FNC was MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” which placed 10th overall in total viewers, and 4th in the demo. “Maddow” averaged 1.09 million total viewers, including 308,000 demo viewers.
CNN’s number one show in total viewers was “The Situation Room,” which averaged 672,000 viewers, good for 20th overall. The top program in the demo was the 10PM repeat of “AC360,” which averaged 207,000 demo viewers, good for 17th overall. HLN’s number one program in both total and demo viewers was “Nancy Grace,” which averaged 396,000 and 142,000 viewers, respectively.
The top program on CNBC was “Squawk on the Street,” which averaged 261,000 viewers. The top CNBC program in the demo was “American Greed,” which averaged 108,00 demo viewers. Fox Business Network’s top program in total viewers and the demo was “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” which averaged 111,000 total viewers, and roughly 33,000 demo viewers.