Lifted by its top-rated coverage of Trump’s State of the Union address, Fox News was easily the most-watched basic cable network for the week of Feb. 4, in both total day and prime time dayparts.
Compared to the same week in 2018 (which did not include a SOTU), FNC was +24 percent in total prime time viewers, +2 percent in total day viewers, +18 percent in the prime time A25-54 demo, but was -10 percent in the total day A25-54 demo.
That’s according to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
Elswhere in the cable news universe – MSNBC, which finished No. 2 across cable TV in total viewers last week, was +19 percent in total prime time viewers, +19 percent in total day viewers, but -2 percent in the prime time A25-54 demo and -11 percent in the 24-hour day A25-54 demo.
CNN also managed a top 5 ranking in prime time this past week (No. 5). The network almost always sees the most significant ratings lift during big events, and that was once again true with the 2019 State of the Union. Compared to the same week in 2018, CNN was +37 percent in total prime time viewers, +8 percent in total day viewers, +22 percent in the prime time A25-54 demo, but -6 percent in the total day A25-54 demo.
Cable News Rankings (Total Viewers)
- FNC Prime Time: 3,233,000 / Total Day: 1,565,000
- MSNBC Prime Time: 2,081,000 / Total Day: 1,158,000
- CNN Prime Time: 1,213,000 / Total Day: 730,000
Cable News Ratings (A25-54)
- FNC Prime Time: 614,000 / Total Day: 282,000
- CNN Prime Time: 379,000 / Total Day: 207,000
- MSNBC Prime Time: 368,000 / Total Day: 187,000
Here are business TV ratings for the week:
Business Day (9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET)
- FBN: 187,000 total viewers and 18,000 A25-54
- CNBC: 180,000 total viewers and 33,000 A25-54
Market Hours (9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET)
- FBN: 191,000 total viewers and 19,000 A25-54
- CNBC: 183,000 total viewers and 33,000 A25-54
Additionally, the 10-most-watched basic cable networks for the week:
Primetime (Total Viewers)
- Fox News (3,233,000)
- MSNBC (2,081,000)
- HGTV (1,367,000)
- History (1,219,000)
- CNN (1,213,000)
- Hallmark Channel (1,192,000)
- ID (1,111,000)
- USA (1,025,000)
- TNT (1,018,000)
- TLC (1,003,000)
Total Day (Total Viewers)
- Fox News (1,565,000)
- MSNBC (1,158,000)
- Nickelodeon (785,000)
- HGTV (769,000)
- ID (767,000)
- CNN (730,000)
- Hallmark (657,000)
- History (596,000)
- Food Network (579,000)
- ESPN (547,000)