New quarter, similar result: The Five is the top-rated cable news show, marking its eighth consecutive quarter (two consecutive years) as the most-watched daily cable news program.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen for the third quarter of 2023, the 5 p.m. news talk panel show program averaged 2.66 million total viewers per original broadcast.
Jesse Watters Primetime was the second most-watched daily cable news show in Q3, averaging more than 2.34 million viewers at 7/8 p.m. MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, which airs weekly, averaged 2.63 million viewers at 9 p.m.
Hannity was the third most-watched daily cable news show (2.225 million at 9 p.m.), with The Ingraham Angle (1.87 million at 10/7 p.m.) and Gutfeld! (1.86 million at 11/10 p.m.) rounding out the top five in average total viewers.
Watters, Ingraham and Gutfeld officially switched timeslots on July 17, four weeks into Q3.
Excluding Maddow, Fox News had the six most-watched daily cable news shows in Q3. Following Special Report with Bret Baier (1.815 million at 6 p.m.) were MSNBC’s The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell (1.74 million at 10 p.m.), Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace (1.6 million at 4-6 p.m.), The Beat With Ari Melber (1.55 million at 6 p.m.), with Alex Wagner Tonight (1.5 million at 9 p.m.) rounding out cable news 10 most-watched for Q3 2023.
Anderson Cooper 360 was CNN’s most-watched show in Q3, averaging 757,000 total viewers at 8 p.m.
Here are the 10 most-watched daily cable news shows for Q3 2023, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
- Fox News | 5 p.m. | The Five: 2,663,000 / 61 telecasts
- Fox News | 7/8 p.m. | Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,341,000 / 50 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. | Hannity: 2,225,000 / 47 telecasts
- Fox News | 10/7 p.m. | The Ingraham Angle: 1,869,000 / 53 telecasts
- Fox News | 11/10 p.m. | Gutfeld!: 1,860,000 / 59 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. | Special Report With Bret Baier: 1,815,000 / 62 telecasts
- MSNBC | 10 p.m. | The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell: 1,742,000 / 59 telecasts
- MSNBC | 4-6 p.m. | Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace: 1,559,000 / 62 telecasts
- MSNBC | 6 p.m. | The Beat With Ari Melber: 1,548,000 / 64 telecasts
- MSNBC | 9 p.m. | Alex Wagner Tonight: 1,496,000 / 49 telecasts
Below, the full regularly-scheduled weekday and weekend cable news show ranker sorted by average total viewers:
Q3 2023 Cable News Ranker (Total Viewers)
How about the top cable news shows of Q2 among Adults 25-54? After all, this is a demographic that advertisers of TV news still focus their ad dollars on.
The Five finished No. 1 on cable news in the demo for the second consecutive quarter, averaging 273,000 Adults 25-54 in Q3 2023. The weekly Rachel Maddow Show averaged 262,000 A25-54 at 9 p.m. Gutfeld! was the second-highest-rated daily cable news show in the demo (257,000). Hannity (241,000), Jesse Watters Primetime (223,000) and The Ingraham Angle (181,000) round out the top five daily cable news shows.
Excluding the weekly TRMS, MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes is the top-rated non-Fox News cable news offering in Q3 among the demo, averaging 165,000 A25-54 viewers.
Here are the top 10 daily cable news shows among Adults 25-54 for Q3 ’23, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen:
- Fox News | 5 p.m. | The Five: 273,000 / 61 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m. | Gutfeld!: 257,000 / 59 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. | Hannity: 241,000 / 47 telecasts
- Fox News | 7/8 p.m. | Jesse Watters Primetime: 223,000 / 50 telecasts
- Fox News | 10/7 p.m. | The Ingraham Angle: 181,000 / 53 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m. | Outnumbered: 175,000 / 62 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. | Special Report With Bret Baier: 173,000 / 62 telecasts
- MSNBC | 8 p.m. | All In With Chris Hayes: 165,000 / 61 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m. | The Faulkner Focus: 165,000 / 62 telecasts
- MSNBC | 10 p.m. | The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell: 163,000 / 59 telecasts
Below, the full regularly-scheduled weekday and weekend cable news show ranker sorted by most to fewest Adults 25-54: