According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for the month of April, Fox News Channel was the most-watched basic cable network in total day, averaging 1.52 million viewers across the 6 a.m.-6 a.m. daypart. That’s now 14 straight months that FNC has finished as the most-watched network in that daypart. Fox News also took the top spot in average total primetime viewers in April, averaging 2.36 million total viewers.
However, compared to its March ’22 performance, Fox News shed -17% in average total prime time audience and -31% in adults 25-54 during primetime (364,000). In total day, Fox lost -16% in average total viewers and -28% in adults 25-54 (248,000).
Now to be fair, Fox (and its competition) ratings benefited greatly in March from wall-to-wall breaking news coverage surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The cable news networks’ coverage of the invasion has been less constant in recent weeks. It was going to be very difficult for FNC (or anyone for that matter) to match those March numbers in April, but Fox continues to dominate its main competition at CNN and MSNBC in the Nielsen ratings department.
Speaking of MSNBC, NBCU’s politics-focused cable news outlet was the second-most-watched basic cable network in April in total day, averaging 668,000 viewers, and the No. 5 basic cable network for April in primetime, averaging 1.12 million viewers in the daypart. The 1.12 million number is -13% from what the network averaged in March, and the 668,000 figure is -14% from March. MSNBC also shed -32% in the primetime demo (124,000), marking its lowest A25-54 average in the daypart since 2015, and hauled in 75,000 A25-54 in total day, which is -27% from March.
CNN has experienced a rocky month on a variety of fronts, which we don’t necessarily need to go into within this post. On the Nielsen ratings front, the network ranked No. 13 across basic cable in average total primetime viewers (,000), and No. 4 in total day viewers (,000) for the month of April. Relative to the breaking news-heavy month of March, CNN shed -43% of its average total primetime audience, and -54% of its primetime demo audience (166,000). The network shed -34% in total day viewers, and -43% in the total day demo (132,000) from April.
CNN beat MSNBC when it came to adults 25-54, both in total day and in primetime, while MSNBC beat CNN in average total viewers.
CNN and MSNBC both shed viewers from April 2021, while Fox News continues to deliver year-over-year viewer growth in most audience measurements.
Fox News and cable networks carrying live sports dominated the April rankings, as expected.
Fox News, TNT, ESPN, TBS, MSNBC, HGTV, TLC, INSP, Hallmark Channel, and History were the 10-most-watched basic cable networks for April ’22 in primetime. Fox News, MSNBC, TNT, CNN, ESPN, HGTV, TBS, Hallmark, INSP and Food Network were the 10-most-watched basic cable networks for April in total day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.).
Driven by its coverage of the NBA Playoffs, TNT and ESPN were top two basic cable networks in primetime among adults 25-54. TBS, which televised the NCAA men’s national championship game, ranked No. 3 in the primetime demo, followed by Fox News, HGTV, TLC, Discovery, Food Network, USA and History. In total day, TNT again led the charge, followed by ESPN, Fox News, TBS, HGTV, Food Network, ID, CNN, USA and Comedy Central.
Below are the basic cable network rankers for April ’22. The first is sorted by most to fewest average total viewers, while the second is ranked in order of most to fewest adults 25-54.