Q3 2012 was a very strong one for MSNBC, which managed to have two shows in the top 10 in the demo for the quarter. Fox News Channel led the way as usual, scoring the top 10 programs in total viewers, and the top six in the demo.
As usual, “The O’Reilly Factor” was the number one program on Fox News and cable news overall. The program averaged 2.83 million total viewers and 551,000 demo viewers for the quarter.
On MSNBC, “The Rachel Maddow Show” was number one in both total and demo viewers, averaging 1.18 million and 356,000 viewers, respectively. “Maddow” placed seventh overall in the demo, and 11th in total viewers.
CNN’s top show in total viewers for the quarter was “Piers Morgan Tonight,” which averaged 548,000 viewers. “AC360” led the network in the demo with 167,000. “PMT” was 24th overall in total viewers, while “AC360” was 25th overall in the demo.
HLN’s top program in total viewers was “Nancy Grace,” which averaged 301,000. In the demo, “Morning Express” was tops with 125,000.
CNBC’s top program in total viewers was “Squawk On The Street,” which averaged 248,000 viewers, while “American greed” led the way in the demo with 114,000. Fox Business Network’s number one show was “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” which averaged 104,000 viewers for the quarter. It was also number one in the demo, averaging 31,000. Note: the Dobbs numbers include a repeat airing, while Kudlow’s does not. In a head to head matchup, not counting the repeat, Dobbs beat Kudlow, as we noted on Monday.
The cable program rankers are below.