Helped by strong ratings from three debates, CNN beat Fox News Channel for first place in prime time (8-11pmET) in the A25-54 demo. Between January 28 and February 22, CNN averaged 750K demo viewers during prime time compared to FNC’s 550K. It was the first time CNN beat FNC in the prime demo since November 2001.
FNC still won in Total Viewers, averaging 2.22M viewers compared to CNN’s 2.03M. FNC also won February in the total day category in both total viewers and the A25-54 demo.
One specific hour in which CNN dominated FNC in the ratings was during the 10pmET hour. Not factoring in any debate or election coverage during that hour, Anderson Cooper 360 beat On the Record with Greta Van Susteren in both total viewers and the A25-54 demo. In the demo, AC360 average 586K compared to 391K for On the Record, a 50% advantage for CNN. In Total Viewers CNN edged FNC by less than 20K viewers.
> Update: Click here to see the year-to-year breakdown of each network.