The Top Cable News Programs of Feb. 2018 Are…

By A.J. Katz 

Fox News dominated the top of the Feb. 2018 cable news rankings in the key audience measurements.

Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson led the way, finishing the month with the two top cable news shows, both in total viewers and among adults 25-54.

Rachel Maddow, who had the No. 1 cable news program in January among adults 25-54, slipped to No. 3 in the demo. Despite falling from No. 1 to No. 3 in the demo, Maddow continues to grow her audience relative to 2017.

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The Ingraham Angle, and Special Report With Bret Baier finished No. 4 and No.5, respectively, both in total viewers and in the A25-54 demo.

Carlson, Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Shannon Bream each posted their largest average audiences for a month (total viewers & adults 25-54) since launching or moving into their respective timeslots last fall.

Heather Childers garnered 549,000 in total viewers and 142,000 with A25-54 in the 4 a.m. ET hour of Fox & Friends First. Childers recently marked her 100th episode as host of the hour, and First continues to beat the time slot competition.

Fox & Friends (6 – 9 a.m.) marked 196 straight months as the most-watched morning show on cable news.

Below are the top 10 cable news shows for Feb. 2018. FNC was home to seven of the top 10 in total viewers. MSNBC had the other three. FNC was home to six of the top 10, with three from MSNBC and one from CNN (AC 360).

Total Viewers (Nielsen Live+SD data):

  1. Hannity (3,333,000)
  2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (3,144,000)
  3. Rachel Maddow Show (2,874,000)
  4. The Ingraham Angle (2,602,000)
  5. Special Report With Bret Baier (2,556,000)
  6. The Five (2,471,000)
  7. The Story With Martha MacCallum (2,344,000)
  8. Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell (2,106,000)
  9. All In With Chris Hayes (1,907,000)
  10. America’s Newsroom (1,831,000)

Adults 25-54 (Nielsen Live+SD data)

  1. Hannity (711,000)
  2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (650,000)
  3. TRMS (641,000)
  4. The Ingraham Angle (538,000)
  5. Special Report With Bret Baier (496,000)
  6. The Story With Martha MacCallum (475,000)
  7. The Five (464,000)
  8. The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell (457,000)
  9. All In With Chris Hayes (411,000)
  10. Anderson Cooper 360 (386,000)

The full cable news show rankers for Feb. 2018:

Cable News Ranker: Feb. 2018 (Total Viewers)

Cable News Ranker: Feb. 2018 (Adults 25-54)

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