For the second consecutive month, Fox News was home to the top four cable news programs for July 2019, with Sean Hannity leading the charge yet again.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, Hannity averaged 3.27 million total viewers with 519,000 A25-54 viewers for the month of August 2019. That’s +6% in total viewers and -11% in adults 25-54 vs. the program’s August 2018 delivery.
As you’ll see with the majority of cable news’ top 10, Hannity was far from the only cable news host who experienced noticeable year-over-year growth in total viewers (the trend among younger news audiences was a bit different).
Tucker Carlson Tonight finished No. 2 across cable news, averaging 3.11 million viewers. That’s +22% among total viewers vs. the prior August. He also averaged 500,000 A25-54 viewers, which is +4% year-over-year.
Laura Ingraham‘s program The Ingraham Angle finished No. 3 across cable news, averaging 2.61 million total viewers and 431,000 A 25-54 viewers. As was the case with her lead-in Hannity, Ingraham’s show was +6% in total viewers but -8% in adults 25-54 vs. August 2018.
The Five remained ahead of MSNBC’s powerhouse Rachel Maddow in the No. 4 spot, both in total viewers (2.45 million) and among adults 25-54 (390,000). The panel show was +13% in total viewers, but -2% among adults 25-54.
The aforementioned Rachel Maddow Show finished No. 5 across the board for the second consecutive month. Her MSNBC program still averaged a solid 2.34 million total viewers and 361,000 A25-54 viewers in August. However, that’s -19% among total viewers, and -35% among adults 25-54, year-over-year. The battle between Maddow and Hannity was a close one last August. Not the case in August 2019.
Who else finished in the top 10?
Among Total Viewers:
- Hannity (3,269,000 / 15 telecasts)
- Tucker Carlson Tonight (3,107,000 / 15 telecasts)
- The Ingraham Angle (2,611,000 / 16 telecasts)
- The Five (2,454,000 / 20 telecasts)
- The Rachel Maddow Show (2,327,000 / 17 telecasts)
- Special Report with Bret Baier (2,069,000 / 20 telecasts)
- The Story with Martha MacCallum (1,890,000 / 20 telecasts)
- The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (1,831,000 / 17 telecasts)
- Outnumbered (1,496,000 / 20 telecasts)
- America’s Newsroom (1,481,000 / 61 telecasts)
Among adults 25-54:
- Hannity (519,000 / 15 telecasts)
- Tucker Carlson Tonight (500, 000 / 15 telecasts)
- The Ingraham Angle (431,000 / 16 telecasts)
- The Five (390,000 / 20 telecasts)
- The Rachel Maddow Show (361,000 / 17 telecasts)
- Special Report with Bret Baier (333,000 / 20 telecasts)
- The Story with Martha MacCallum (325,000 / 20 telecasts)
- Fox & Friends (284,000 / 60 telecasts)
- Cuomo Prime Time (270,000 / 11 telecasts)
- Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream (268,000 / 20 telecasts)
Cuomo Prime Time hosted by Chris Cuomo was CNN’s top show of the month, averaging total viewers and A25-54 viewers. Cuomo, who anchors CNN’s 9 p.m. hour, was the network’s entry into the cable news top 10 among the key A25-54 demo. However, there were only 11 original telecasts of Cuomo Prime Time in August.
Here’s how the cable news morning shows performed in July:
Total Viewers / A25-54
- Fox & Friends : 1,453,000 / 284,000
- Morning Joe: 1,015,000 / 148,000
- New Day: 456,000 / 108,000
Here are the August cable news program rankers. The first is sorted by total viewers, and the second is sorted by adults 25-54.