The cable news ratings race on Alabama special election night resulted in a split decision.
On Tuesday, Fox News’s prime time coverage of the Alabama race, which went to Democrat Doug Jones over the Republican Roy Moore, averaged 3.55 million total viewers. That’s No. 1 in cable news, more total prime time viewers than MSNBC (3.15 million) and CNN (2.76 million).
Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum broke in with election updates at various points during Fox News prime time.
CNN, as often is the case when it comes to significant political events, reigned supreme when it came to delivering the younger demos. This includes victories in the ad-friendly A25-54 demo, and among millennials (A18-34).
With Wolf Blitzer leading coverage, CNN averaged 1.15 million adults 25-54 in prime time, whereas Fox edged MSNBC in the 25-54 category by just 1,000 viewers (809,000 vs. 808,000).
Hannity’s was the most-watched show in the 9 p.m. hour, with a 3.8 million total viewer average. CNN was No. 1 in the demo, delivering 997,000 viewers. Hannity delivered 831,000 A25-54 demo viewers, while Rachel Maddow earned a rare No. 3 finish in A25-54 (760,000).
MSNBC and CNN were tops in thd 10 p.m. hour, which is when the race was called. MSNBC, with Lawrence O’Donnell hosting, was No. 1 in total viewers (3.75 million). CNN was No. 1 in the demo (1.51 million).
Fox News was the first news network to call the race for Jones (10:23 p.m. ET), followed by CNN (10:29 p.m. ET), and then MSNBC/NBC (10:47 p.m. ET).