It’s the beginning of a new era at Fox News. The network’s revamped prime time lineup got off to a strong start last night ratings-wise, with the network defeating CNN and MSNBC in total viewers and A25-54 in the 8, 9 and 10 p.m. ET hours, per early Nielsen data.
The final live-plus-same-day figures for prime time will be released at around 4 p.m. ET, and we’ll include those in tonight’s daily scoreboard.
The debut of Tucker Carlson Tonight in the 8 p.m. hour ended up being the top cable news show of the night, easily defeating 8 p.m. cable news counterparts Anderson Cooper 360 and All in Chris Hayes in key categories, as most expected.
Hannity easily won the 10 p.m. hour, defeating CNN’s Town Hall with John Kasich, and MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell in all relevant categories.
But the matchup to really keep an eye on going forward will be in the 9 p.m. hour. Fox News’s panel program The Five now occupies the timeslot. Jesse Watters replaces Eric Bolling, who gets his own show at 5 p.m. starting on Monday.
The Five managed to fend off Rachel Maddow on night one, not just in total viewers but also in the key news demo. A Fox News victory in the news demo at 9 p.m. has been far from a guarantee in recent weeks.
The Lead with Jake Tapper is airing in CNN’s rotating 9 p.m. timeslot this week, and finished a distant third.
We’re only one night in, but this appears to be a promising start for the network as it looks to heal from the stunning departure of cable news icon Bill O’Reilly.
Monday, April 24 Prime Time (8 – 11 p.m.)
- FNC: 2,848,030 total viewers (582,547 in A25-54)
- MSNBC: 1,801,447 total viewers (424,425 A25-54)
- CNN: 944,570 total viewers (328,705 in A25-54)
8 p.m. ET
- FNC’s Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,174,952 total viewers (636,124 in A25-54)
- MSNBC’s All in with Chris Hayes: 1,515,915 total viewers (369,842 in A25-54)
- CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360: 1,000,277 total viewers (351,646 in 25-54)
9 p.m. ET
- FNC’s The Five: 2,758,548 total viewers (568,064 in 25-54)
- MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show: 2,161,898 total viewers (523,640 in A25-54)
- CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper: 881,724 total viewers (304,840 in A25-54)
10 p.m. ET
- FNC’s Hannity: 2,610,591 total viewers (543,452 in A25-54)
- MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell: 1,726,528 total viewers (379,793 in A25-54)
- CNN Town Hall With John Kasich: 951,710 total viewers (329,629 in 25-54)