Fox News was the most-watched basic cable network in total day ( 6 a.m. – 6 a.m.) for the 44th consecutive week, averaging nearly 1.5 million viewers in the daypart.
ESPN was the dominant basic cable network in prime time, aided by the launch of the 2019-2020 college basketball season, and of course Monday Night Football.
On the programming front – Hannity was the most-watched non-sports cable show last week, averaging 3.7 million total viewers.
Additionally, Special Report with Bret Baier and The Story with Martha MacCallum delivered their highest-rated week of the year. The same was true for Fox & Friends, which averaged 1.67 million total viewers last week.
MSNBC remained a top three network in multiple dayparts, finishing No. 3 in prime time viewers behind ESPN and Fox News, and behind only Fox News in total day.
The Rachel Maddow Show was the No. 1 show on all of cable television on Wednesday.
CNN maintained its spot in the basic cable top 10 among total viewers, coming in at No. 7 in prime time and No. 5 in total day for the week of Nov. 4, 2019.
Compared to the same week in 2018, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN were down double digits in multiple measurements. These year-over-year declines make sense considering the same week in 2018 featured wall-to-wall coverage of the 2018 midterm elections.
Basic Cable Top 5 – Prime Time (Total Viewers)
- ESPN (3,076,000)
- Fox News (2,675,000)
- MSNBC (1,949,000)
- Hallmark Channel (1,496,000)
- History (978,000)
- HGTV (976,000)
- CNN (915,000)
- A&E (890,000)
- TBS (882,000)
- Discovery (833,000)
Basic Cable Top 5 – Total Day (Total Viewers)
- FNC (1,478,000)
- MSNBC (1,095,000)
- ESPN (953,000)
- Hallmark Channel (839,000)
- CNN (667,000)
- Nickelodeon (649,000)
- Investigation Discovery (584,000)
- HGTV (572,000)
- Food Network (499,000)
- A&E (496,000)
Cable News Rankings (Total Viewers)
- FNC ranked No. 2 in prime time (2,675,000) and No. 1 in total day (1,478,000)
- MSNBC ranked No. 3 in prime time (1,949,000) and No.2 in total day (1,095,000)
- CNN ranked No.7 in prime time (915,000) and No. 5 in total day (667,000)
Cable News Ratings (A25-54)
- FNC – Prime time (407,000) and total day (241,000)
- MSNBC – Prime time (326,000) and total day (170,000)
- CNN – Prime time (220,000) and total day (157,000)