ESPN and Fox News went toe-to-toe in the race for November ratings supremacy. ESPN came out on top across all relevant measurements in prime time, lifted by Monday Night Football, and to a lesser extent its college football broadcasts.
Fox News, slipped to No. 2 in prime time among total viewers, but held strong as the most-watched cable network across the 24-hour-day thanks in part to around the clock coverage of the midterm elections and other Trump-related matters.
MSNBC were also among the Top 10 basic cable networks for the month in total viewers. NBC’s politics-focused cabler ranked No. 4 in prime time, and No. 4 in total day. CNN improved to No. 6 in prime time and No. 6 in total day viewers.
Below is the Top 10 in prime time, followed by the Top 10 in total day and a more expansive basic cable network ranker for Nov. 2018. Per usual, the data is Nielsen live-plus-same day.
Prime Time Top 10 (Total Viewers)
- ESPN (3,127,000)
- Fox News (2,439,000)
- Hallmark Channel (2,150,000)
- MSNBC (1,835,000)
- USA (1,154,000)
- CNN (1,119,000)
- HGTV (1,076,000)
- A&E (981,000)
- TBS (972,000)
- Investigation Discovery (952,000)
6 a.m. – 6 a.m. Top 10 (Total Viewers)
- Fox News (1,475,000)
- Hallmark Channel (1,164,000)
- ESPN (1,058,000)
- MSNBC (1,024,000)
- Nickelodeon (830,000)
- CNN (761,000)
- Investigation Discovery (686,000)
- HGTV (644,000)
- Food Network (563,000)
- USA (550,000)