We still don’t know which Democratic presidential candidate won the 2020 Iowa caucuses, but we do know who won in the ratings department.
Per Nielsen fast national data, Fox News was the No. 1 cable news network, both in Total Viewers and in Adults 25-54, for live special coverage of this year’s Iowa caucuses, an event which left much to be desired.
MSNBC took second place in Total Viewers, while CNN beat MSNBC in Adults 25-54. CNN also ranked No. 1 in the key demo during the 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET time period, during which news broke about delays in the results.
Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum co-anchored Fox News’ live special coverage from 6 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET. Shannon Bream took over at 12:30 a.m. ET and led special coverage until 2 a.m. ET.
MSNBC presented special live coverage of the caucuses until 2 a.m. ET. Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace and Brian Williams co-hosted the coverage for most of the night, and Chris Hayes was leading coverage when the network closed up shop at 2 a.m.
Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper, Chris Cuomo, and Don Lemon led live coverage for CNN at various points throughout the evening. The hosts were joined by a rotating group of panelists.
CNN stuck with special live coverage of the Iowa caucuses until 4 a.m. ET, when Lemon threw it to the network’s regularly scheduled early morning program Early Start.
Below, a look at viewership numbers for the coverage period of 6 p.m.- 2 a.m. ET. It’s worth noting that Fox News prime time programs Tucker Carlson Tonight (8-9 p.m.) and Hannity (9-10 p.m.) aired as regularly scheduled and are incorporated in this figures.
Monday, Feb. 3, 2020
| 2020 Iowa Caucuses Special Live Common Coverage | |||
| Network | Total Viewers (000) | A25-54 Viewers (000) | Time Period (ET) |
| Fox News | 3,044,000 | 607,000 | 6 p.m.-2 a.m. |
| MSNBC | 1,938,000 | 465,000 | 6 p.m.-2 a.m. |
| CNN | 1,368,000 | 540,000 | 6 p.m. – 2 a.m. |
The second table includes the first 2 hours of special Iowa caucuses coverage anchored by Baier and MacCallum (6-8 p.m. ET), before FNC decided to dip into the aforementioned regularly scheduled prime time shows.
Monday, Feb. 3, 2020
| 2020 Iowa Caucuses Special Live Common Coverage | |||
| Network | Total Viewers (000) | A25-54 Viewers (000) | Time Period (ET) |
| Fox News | 2,581,000 | 486,000 | 6 p.m.-8 p.m. |
| MSNBC | 1,485,000 | 287,000 | 6 p.m.-8 p.m. |
| CNN | 1,054,000 | 372,000 | 6 p.m.-8 p.m. |
The third table shows Fox News’ return to special Iowa caucuses coverage at 10 p.m. ET, and how it compared with CNN and MSNBC coverage over the following 2 1/2 hours.
Fox News and CNN split the 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET time period, shown below.
Monday, Feb. 3, 2020
| 2020 Iowa Caucuses Special Live Common Coverage | |||
| Network | Total Viewers (000) | A25-54 Viewers (000) | Time Period (ET) |
| Fox News | 3,044,000 | 652,000 | 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m. |
| MSNBC | 2,327,000 | 609,000 | 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m. |
| CNN | 1,657,000 | 703,000 | 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m. |
This last table shows the final 90 minutes of cable news’ common coverage of the Iowa caucuses, including when Shannon Bream took over for Baier and MacCallum (12:30-2 a.m. ET). We’ve now entered Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020.
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020
| 2020 Iowa Caucuses Special Live Common Coverage | |||
| Network | Total Viewers (000) | A25-54 Viewers (000) | Time Period (ET) |
| Fox News | 1,639,000 | 392,000 | 12:30-2 a.m. |
| MSNBC | 1,174,000 | 288,000 | 12:30-2 a.m. |
| CNN | 834,000 | 323,000 | 12:30-2 a.m. |
Lastly, CNN was No. 1 throughout the evening and night among millennials (A18-34) during last night’s Iowa Caucuses.
*Source: Early Nielsen Media Research