The drama coming out of Washington is seemingly never ending, but that’s not exactly a bad thing for Fox News. At least not from a ratings perspective.
FNC, which will celebrate its 22nd anniversary this weekend, marked 67 consecutive quarters as the No. 1 cable news network in total viewers across total day and prime time in Q3 2018, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data.
Compared with its Q3 2017 ratings, Fox News was +14 percent in total viewers, +3 percent in the prime time demo, +3 percent in total day viewers.
But FNC was actually -9 percent among adults 25-54 across the 24-hour day, meaning not everything was peachy on the ratings front.
The ratings for Q3, 2018 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):
- Prime time (Mon-Sun): 2,457,000 total viewers / 450,000 A25-54
- Total Day (Mon-Sun): 1,401,000 total viewers /270,000 A25-54
Hannity was also the No. 1 program in both total viewers and demo for the quarter, only behind sports and special coverage of the Kavanaugh hearings, for regularly scheduled basic cable programming. Q3 2018 marked his second highest-rated quarter in total viewers since returning to the 9 p.m. time slot.
Shout outs and frequent appearances by the commander-in-chief don’t hurt.
Martha MacCallum ended her quarter quite nicely, with an exclusive with Judge Brett Kavanaugh leading up to his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The network also won the ratings battle when it came to live coverage of the Kavanaugh-Ford hearings.
Here’s a look at the top 10 cable news programs for the third quarter, sorted by total viewers:
- Hannity / 3,340,000 / 55 telecasts
- The Rachel Maddow Show / 2,947,000 / 62 telecasts
- Tucker Carlson Tonight / 2,775,000 / 61 telecasts
- The Ingraham Angle / 2,672,000 / 58 telecasts
- The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell / 2,307,000 / 61 telecasts
- The Five / 2,304,000 / 62 telecasts
- Special Report with Bret Baier / 2,172,000 / 64 telecasts
- The Story with Martha MacCallum / 2,019,000 / 64 telecasts
- All In with Chris Hayes / 1,864,000 / 63 telecasts
- 11th Hour with Brian Williams / 1,700,000 / 63 telecasts
Q3 2018: Cable News Show Ranker (Total Viewers)
Secondly, the top 10 sorted by A25-54:
- Hannity / 625,000 / 55 telecasts
- The Rachel Maddow Show / 573,000 / 62 telecasts
- Tucker Carlson Tonight / 539,000 / 61 telecasts
- The Ingraham Angle / 501,000 / 58 telecasts
- Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell / 418,000 / 61 telecasts
- The Five / 408,000 / 62 telecasts
- The Story with Martha MacCallum / 399,000 / 64 telecasts
- Cuomo Prime Time / 398,000 / 66 telecasts
- Special Report with Bret Baier / 395,000 / 64 telecasts
- Anderson Cooper 360 / 367,000 / 69 telecasts
Q3 2018: Cable News Show Ranker (A25-54)
Fox Business Network:
FBN is celebrating its 11th anniversary on Oct. 15, and in Q3 2018 posted +7 percent growth over last year in total business day audience. The network was led by strong performances from anchors Stuart Varney, Neil Cavuto, Trish Regan and Liz Claman.
Lou Dobbs’ eponymous program Lou Dobbs Tonight remained the top program on business TV in both total viewers (335,000) and the A25-54 demo (39,000). The strong performance marked Dobbs 10th straight quarter as No. 1 in total viewers across all of business television.
3Q’18 Business Day Ratings:
- FBN: 201,000 total viewers / 23,000 A25-54
CNBC: 157,000 total viewers / 26,000 A25-54
3Q ’18 Total Day Ratings
- FBN: 143,000 total viewers / 18,000 A25-54
- CNBC: 135,000 total viewers / 38,000 A25-54