New year, new quarter, similar finish. Barely.
The Five marked a sixth consecutive quarter as the most-watched cable news program, despite a late charge from Tucker Carlson Tonight.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, the 5 p.m. news talk panel show program averaged nearly 3.26 million total viewers per original broadcast in Q1 2023, down from the 3.41 million who watched each original episode in Q4 of last year.
The Five edged Tucker Carlson Tonight for the Q1 title, although the latter will win the month of March in total viewers and across demos.
Fox’s 8 p.m. news talk show averaged nearly 3.25 million viewers per original broadcast, up from the 3.19 million each original episode averaged in Q4.
Jesse Watters Primetime at 7 p.m. (2.78 million) Hannity at 9 p.m. (down to 2.585 million), and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.35 million) once again round out the top five in average total viewers.
For the second consecutive quarter, the 13 most watched cable news shows of the quarter were all Fox News shows. MSNBC’s The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell came in at No. 14 (1.39 million at 10 p.m.), and The Beat With Ari Melber (1.37 million at 6 p.m.) round out the top 15.
Anderson Cooper 360 was CNN’s most-watched show in Q4, averaging just 703,000 total viewers at 8 p.m. (No. 26 overall).
Here are the 10 most-watched cable news shows for Q1 2023, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
- Fox News | 5 p.m. /The Five: 3,256,000 / 58 telecasts
- Fox News | 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,246,000 / 53 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m./Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,781,000 / 52 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m./ Hannity: 2,585,000 / 50 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,349,000 / 64 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 2,042,000 / 48 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m. / Gutfeld!: 1,940,000 / 52 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered: 1,692,000 / 62 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-10 a.m, 10-11 a.m. / America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino: 1,649,000 / 123 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m. / The Faulkner Focus: 1,618,000 / 63 telecasts
Below, the full regularly-scheduled cable news show ranker sorted by average total viewers:
How about the top cable news shows of Q1 among adults 25-54? After all, this is a demographic that advertisers of TV news still focus their ad dollars on.
Tucker Carlson Tonight remains No. 1 by a substantial margin, averaging 443,000 from the measurement in Q1 2023. The Five remained in second (357,000) with Hannity (317,000), Jesse Watters Primetime (304,000) and Gutfeld! (301,000) rounding out the top five.
Fox News has the top 15 shows on cable news among adults 25-54. CNN’s Erin Burnett Outfront is the top-rated non-Fox News cable news offering for Q1, coming in at No. 16 with a 150,000 A25-54 average. The Beat With Ari Melber is MSNBC’s top show in Q1 among adults 25-54, ranking No. 18 on cable news with a 141,000 viewer average. The Beat … beat its 6 p.m. ET CNN competition in the A25-54 demo for the first time since Q4 2019.
Here are the top 10 cable news shows among adults 25-54 for Q1 ’23, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen:
- Fox News| 8 p.m./ Tucker Carlson Tonight: 443,000 / 53 telecasts
- Fox News | 5 p.m. / The Five: 357,000 / 58 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. / Hannity: 317,000 / 50 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m. / Jesse Watters Primetime: 304,000 / 52 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld!: 301,000 / 52 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 265,000 / 48 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 262,000 / 64 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m./Outnumbered: 208,000 / 62 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m./ The Faulkner Focus: 205,000 /63 telecasts
- Fox News | 1-2 p.m., 2-3 p.m. / America’s Newsroom: 201,000 / 123 telecasts
Below, the full regularly-scheduled cable news show ranker sorted by most to fewest adults 25-54: