Basic Cable Ranker: Week of Oct. 28

By A.J. Katz 

During the week of Oct. 28, Fox News was the most-watched basic cable network across the 6 a.m. – 6 a.m. time period, marking its 43rd consecutive week as No. 1 in that interval.

Not only did FNC maintain its winning streak in total day, but the network earned the No. 1 spot in prime time for the second consecutive week, beating ESPN.

Presentations of Hannity, Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Five and The Ingraham Angle garnered 17 of the top 25 cable telecasts in total viewers. Additionally, FNC’s Hannity and Tucker Carlson Tonight were nine of the top 15 most-watched cable telecasts of the week.

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The Oct. 31 edition of Hannity was the most-watched non-sports telecast of the week, drawing 3.6 million total viewers.

Speaking of Halloween, Fox News topped the competition with special breaking news coverage surrounding the House of Reps. vote on the resolution to formalize impeachment procedures into Pres. Trump. Coverage, anchored by Chris Wallace and Martha MacCallum, beat out both MSNBC and CNN for the 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET timeslot. Preempting regularly scheduled programming, Wallace and MacCallum were joined by Bret Baier, Dana Perino, and Juan Williams.

Without Shepard Smith, Fox News’ 3 p.m. hour (currently named Fox News Reporting) had its second-best week of the year. Wallace and Bill Hemmer anchored the hour last week, which averaged 1.5 million total viewers and 236,000 adults 25-54.

MSNBC was the No. 3 basic cable network last week in prime time, and No. 2 in total day viewers. It finished No. 2 in cable news among total viewers in prime time and total day. The network also finished No. 2 ahead of CNN in the prime time demo as well as the total day demo.

CNN nabbed top 10 a top 10 basic cable ranking in multiple dayparts, including a No. 7 finish in total prime time viewers, and No. 5 in total day.

 

Cable News Rankings (Total Viewers)

  • FNC ranked No. 1 in Prime Time (2,672,000) and No. 1 in Total Day (1,518,000)
  • MSNBC ranked No. 3 in Prime Time (1,812,000) and No. 2 in Total Day (1,074,000)
  • CNN ranked No. 7 in Prime Time (884,000) and No. 5 in Total Day (665,000)

Cable News Ratings (A25-54)

  • FNC – Prime Time (414,000) and Total Day (251,000)
  • MSNBC – Prime Time (289,000) and Total Day (170,000)
  • CNN – Prime Time (201,000) and Total Day (158,000)

Basic Cable Top 5 – Prime Time (Total Viewers)

  1. Fox News (2,672,000)
  2. ESPN (2,329,000)
  3. MSNBC (1,812,000)
  4. Hallmark Channel (1,481,000)
  5. TLC (1,085,000)
  6. HGTV (997,000)
  7. CNN (884,000)
  8. Discovery (847,000)
  9. A&E (846,000)
  10. History (795,000)

Basic Cable Top 5 – Total Day (Total Viewers)

  1. FNC (1,518,000)
  2. MSNBC (1,074,000)
  3. Hallmark (814,000)
  4. ESPN (793,000)
  5. CNN (665,000)
  6. Nickelodeon (610,000)
  7. HGTV (590,000)
  8. Investigation Discovery (551,000)
  9. Food Network (472,000)
  10. A&E (465,000)

 

 

Basic Cable Ranker: Week of Oct. 28 (Total Viewers)

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