According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, Tucker Carlson Tonight is the No. 1 cable news show for July 2021, not just in average total audience but also among adults 25-54. Once again cable television’s top-rated host, Carlson’s 8 p.m. offering hauled in an average of 3.02 million total viewers and 520,000 adults 25-54 per original broadcast in July.
Hannity (2.7 million), The Five (2.53 million), MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (2.3 million) and FNC’s The Ingraham Angle (2.07 million) round out the five-most-watched for the month.
Eight of the 10-most-watched shows of the month are Fox News shows. The other two air on MSNBC, including The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (No. 9).
In its fourth month on air, Fox News’ late-night show Gutfeld! finished No. 8 in total viewers and continues to beat its 11 p.m. competition.
CNN’s most-watched show for July was Cuomo Primetime (954,000). However, it was only the 22nd-most-watched show on all of cable news for the month. The top 21 (in total viewers) either aired on Fox News or MSNBC. CNN programs rank higher up the cable news food chain when judging by A25-54 viewership, as we’ll do later in this item.
Here’s the top 10 for July 2021, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
- Fox News| 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,023,000 / 16 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. / Hannity: 2,697,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News | 5 p.m. / The Five: 2,528,000 / 20 telecasts
- MSNBC | 9 p.m. / The Rachel Maddow Show: 2,295,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m. / The Ingraham Angle: 2,071,000 / 14 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 1,794,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m. / Fox News Primetime: 1,677,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m. / Gutfeld! : 1,514,000 / 18 telecasts
- MSNBC | 10 p.m. / Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell: 1,510,000 / 17 telecasts
- Fox News: | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered: 1,341,000 / 20 telecasts
July ’21 cable news show ranker (Total Viewers)
How about the top cable news shows among adults 25-54? After all, this is a demographic that advertisers of news traditionally focus their ad dollars on.
As previously mentioned, Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged the largest A25-54 audience of any cable news show in July by a substantial margin, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen (520,000). Hannity remained No. 2 in the demo (422,000), followed by The Five (359,000). The Ingraham Angle finished behind The Rachel Maddow Show in average total viewers, but Fox’s 10 p.m. host beat MSNBC’s 9 p.m. host when it came to adults 25-54 (347,000 vs. 302,000).
Fox News placed nine shows in the top 10 for July among adults 25-54, a monthly-high for 2021. The Rachel Maddow Show was the only non-Fox offering to crack the top 10 in the demo, coming in 5th.
CNN’s top cable news show in the demo was Anderson Cooper 360, which averaged 212,000 (No. 12 overall).
Again, this is Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for July 2021 (top 10 Adults 25-54)
- Fox News| 8 p.m./ Tucker Carlson Tonight: 520,000 / 16 telecasts
- Fox News| 9 p.m. / Hannity: 422,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News| 5 p.m. / The Five: 359,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News| 10 p.m. / The Ingraham Angle: 347,000 / 14 telecasts
- MSNBC | 9 p.m. / The Rachel Maddow Show: 302,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m. / Gutfeld!: 290,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m./ Fox News Primetime: 290,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 283,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-11 a.m. / America’s Newsroom: 230,000 / 38 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered / 228,000 / 20 telecasts