Last week, Fox News maintained its status as the No. 1 basic cable network in Total Viewers, topping the landscape across total day and prime-time for the week of March 2.
Once again, Hannity was the top cable news show in Total Viewers and in the Adults 25-54 demographic. Tucker Carlson Tonight came in second.
FNC’s The Five, Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream also had especially strong weeks. Fox News @ Night defeated MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams among Adults 25-54 for the 15th consecutive week.
Presentations of Hannity, Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Story with Martha MacCallum, The Ingraham Angle, The Five, as well as FNC’s special coverage of Super Tuesday and President Trump’s FNC town hall comprised the top 20 telecasts in all of cable in total viewers.
Fox News’ Democracy 2020 special coverage of Super Tuesday garnered the largest audience in total viewers in cable news history for the event, and Fox’s town hall with President Trump last Thursday marked the most-watched election town hall in cable news history (4.2 million viewers from 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET).
Speaking of Super Tuesday, Fox News might have won Total Viewers, but CNN was the top-rated network that day in prime-time that day among Adults 25-54. CNN had a strong week in the demo overall.
CNN was the third-most-watched basic cable network last week, both in total day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.) and in prime-time, and posted year-over-year audience growth, +54% in prime-time and +32% in total day viewership. It also defeated MSNBC in the prime-time demo (Adults 25-54).
However, MSNBC knocked off rival CNN in Total Viewers, and also finished second across all of basic cable in both of the aforementioned dayparts. Like CNN, MSNBC posted year-over-year viewer growth, a feat it hadn’t achieved in 2020. NBCU’s politics-focused cabler was +7% in prime-time and +4% in total day.
Fox News posted year-over-year viewer growth as well, +40% in prime-time and +30% in total day.
Adults 25-54:
- Fox News – Prime time (569,000 / +53% YoY) and total day (331,000 / +41% YoY)
- MSNBC – Prime time (392,000 / +15% YoY) and total day (187,000 / +4% YoY)
- CNN – Prime time (410,000 / +69% YoY) and Total Day (226,000 / +34% YoY)
Basic cable ranker: Week of March 2 (Total Viewers)