Fox News retained its perch atop the cable news leaderboard in February, besting MSNBC and CNN combined in total viewers. Fox News was the only cable news network to grow in primetime compared to the same month last year, finishing third for the month — behind only USA and the History Channel — among all cable networks.
The ratings for February 2014 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):
- Primetime (Mon-Sun): 1,896,000 total viewers / 305,000 A25-54
- Total Day Mon-Sun): 1,113,000 total viewers / 221,000 A25-54
Compared to the same month last year, Fox News was up +2% in total viewers and down -2% in the A25-54 demographic in total day. In primetime, the network was up +6% in total viewers and +3% in the demo.
All three primetime shows are up year-over-year: “The O’Reilly Factor” is up +3% in total viewers and +2% in A25-54 viewers and Megyn Kelly’s “The Kelly File” is up +23% in total viewers and +11% in the demo compared to the 9pmET timeslot last year. “Hannity” is flat (+1%) in total viewers and +6% in the demo compared to the 10pmET timeslot last year.
“The Five” was the second-highest rated cable news show in the A25-54 demographic for the month, behind only “The O’Reilly Factor.” The show averaged 2,107,000 total viewers and 358,000 A25-54 viewers, up +5% and down -2%, respectively, compared to February 2013.
Fox News grew in total viewers every hour between 11am-4pmET and 5pm-11pmET. The network has been number one in total viewers for both total day and primetime for 146 consecutive months.