Ratings

The Top-Rated Cable News Shows for Q4 ’23 Are …

By A.J. Katz 

New quarter, familiar story: The Five is the most-watched show on cable news.

According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, Fox News’ panel talk program averaged the most total viewers of any cable news show in the final quarter of 2023, marking three consecutive fourth quarters at No. 1. That’s no small feat for a show that airs outside of primetime.

The Five hauled in an average of 2.89 million total viewers per original broadcast in Q4. Jesse Watters Primetime took second place among all daily cable news offerings, averaging 2.5 million total viewers at 8 p.m. Hannity finished No. 3 among all daily cable news programming (2.38 million at 9 p.m.) followed by Special Report with Bret Baier at 6 p.m. (2.13 million) and The Ingraham Angle (2.11 million at 7 p.m.). MSNBC’s primetime offering The Rachel Maddow Show is technically third overall (2.45 million viewers at 9 p.m.), but only airs on Mondays.

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The nine most watched cable news shows of the fourth quarter were all Fox News shows (excluding TRMS). MSNBC’s Deadline: White House (featuring fill-in hosts for a chunk of Q4) came in at No. 10 with an average of 1.57 million total viewers from 4-6 p.m.

For the second consecutive Q4, The Lead With Jake Tapper was CNN’s most-watched show, but it only averaged 772,000 total viewers from 4-6 p.m.

Below, the full cable news show ranker sorted by average Total Viewers and including number of telecasts:

Ranked on P2+ Q4 2023 Cable News 
Rank Network PROGRAM NAME P2+(000) T/C
1 FOXN FIVE, THE 2886 62
2 FOXN JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME 2513 54
3 MSNB RACHEL MADDOW SHOW  (Mondays) 2453 12
4 FOXN HANNITY 2381 53
5 FOXN SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER 2129 65
6 FOXN INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE 2108 58
7 FOXN GUTFELD! 1940 49
8 FOXN OUTNUMBERED 1618 66
9 FOXN AMERICAS NEWSROOM 1580 132
10 MSNB DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE 1571 67
11 MSNB BEAT W/ARI MELBER 1565 67
12 FOXN FAULKNER FOCUS, THE 1549 66
13 MSNB LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL 1544 62
14 FOXN YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO 1484 65
15 FOXN AMERICA REPORTS 1477 132
16 MSNB ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES  (Tues-Fri) 1470 52
16 FOXN SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES 1470 14
18 FOXN STORY, THE 1465 66
19 MSNB INSIDE W/ JEN PSAKI   (Mondays) 1407 14
20 MSNB ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT (Tues-Fri) 1388 54
21 MSNB REIDOUT 1320 63
22 FOXN LIFE, LIBERTY AND LEVIN 1303 21
23 FOXN CAVUTO LIVE 1241 24
24 FOXN FOX NEWS AT NIGHT 1166 71
25 FOXN MEDIA BUZZ 1146 14
26 FOXN SUNDAY NIGHT IN AMERICA 1134 11
27 FOXN FOX & FRIENDS SATURDAY 1132 56
28 FOXN BIG WEEKEND SHOW, THE 1111 28
29 FOXN FOX AND FRIENDS 1105 195
30 FOXN FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY 1073 57
31 FOXN ONE NATION  W/ BRIAN KILMEADE 1066 13
32 MSNB MORNING JOE 1065 130
33 MSNB 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE 982 62
34 MSNB KATY TUR REPORTS 959 66
34 FOXN FOX REPORT WITH JON SCOTT 959 42
36 CNN CNN SPECIAL COVERAGE 922 17
37 MSNB ANA CABRERA REPORTS 893 67
38 MSNB CHRIS JANSING REPORTS 861 68
39 FOXN FOX NEWS LIVE 857 121
40 MSNB ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS 806 66
41 MSNB JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS 778 66
42 FOXN FOX NEWS SUNDAY 773 13
43 CNN LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER 772 121
44 CNN FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS 771 12
45 CNN ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT 770 68
46 MSNB INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI 757 14
47 FOXN JOURNAL EDITORIAL REPORT 740 13
48 CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 727 79
49 CNN STATE OF THE UNION 704 18
50 CNN SITUATION ROOM 697 88
51 CNN INSIDE POLITICS 661 78
52 CNN SMERCONISH 649 12
53 CNN CNN NEWS CENTRAL 643 410
54 MSNB VELSHI 638 24
55 MSNB SATURDAY SHW W/J.CAPEHART 602 11
56 CNN SOURCE W KAITLAN COLLINS 599 68
57 CNN CNN PRIMETIME 591 10
58 MSNB ALEX WITT REPORTS 557 31
59 FOXN FOX & FRIENDS FIRST 537 73
60 CNN NEWSNIGHT 535 49
61 CNN CNN NEWSROOM 521 227
62 MSNB SUNDAY SHOW W/J. CAPEHART 518 10
63 MSNB AYMAN 512 27
64 MSNB MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE 494 45
65 MSNB KATIE PHANG SHOW 486 24
66 MSNB AMERCAN VOICES W/MENENDEZ 470 24
67 MSNB YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN REPRTS 452 22
67 MSNB POLITICS NATION 452 23
69 CNN LAURA COATES LIVE 432 57
70 NMX ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT 423 70
71 CNN CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND 418 73
72 MSNB SYMONE 406 23
73 MSNB WAY TOO EARLY 371 64
74 CNN CNN THIS MORNING 363 210
75 NMX ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE 343 70
76 MSNB MORNING JOE WEEKEND 331 11
77 NMX RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS 297 68
78 NMX GREG KELLY REPORTS 286 64
78 FBN KUDLOW 286 56
80 CNN CNN NEWSROOM LIVE 274 321
81 NMX CARL HIGBIE FRONTLINE 269 70
82 NMX CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE 268 70
83 FBN VARNEY & COMPANY 260 198
84 CNBC FAST MONEY HALFTIME RPRT 246 67
85 CNBC MONEY MOVERS 238 14
86 CNN EARLY START 237 64
87 NMX NATIONAL REPORT 216 72
88 CNBC SQUAWK ON THE STREET 211 68
89 NMX AMERICAN AGENDA 210 70
90 MSNB DATELINE 208 18
91 NMX AMERICA RIGHT NOW 207 14
92 CNBC EXCHANGE, THE 206 67
93 NMX NEWSLINE 203 70
94 MSNB SKY NEWS ON MSNBC 198 10
95 CNBC CLOSING BELL 195 136
96 NMX CHRIS PLANTE RIGHT SQUAD 190 63
97 CNBC POWER LUNCH 186 67
98 NMX SATURDAY REPORT 169 14
99 CNBC FAST MONEY 167 68
100 FBN CAVUTO COAST TO COAST 164 66
101 NMX COUNT; THE 163 12
102 FBN CLAMAN COUNTDOWN, THE 162 66
103 FBN EVENING EDIT, THE 160 67
104 NMX SUNDAY REPORT 158 14
105 NWSN CUOMO 151 68
105 NMX WAKE UP AMERICA 151 70
107 FBN MAKING MONEY W/C.PAYNE 145 65
108 NMX SUNDAY AGENDA 138 14
108 FBN BIG MONEY SHOW, THE 138 66
110 NMX SATURDAY AGENDA 137 13
110 FBN BOTTOM LINE, THE 137 67
112 CNBC MAD MONEY 132 67
113 NMX WAKE UP AMERICA WEEKEND 128 28
114 FBN MORNINGS WITH M.BARTIROMO 113 189
115 HLN CNN/CNN THIS MORNING WKND 109 74
116 CNBC SQUAWK BOX 106 68
117 NWSN DAN ABRAMS LIVE 101 66
118 CNBC LAST CALL 99 70
119 NWSN BANFIELD 95 67
120 NWSN NEWSNATION PRIME 94 81
121 FBN M. BARTIROMOS WALL STREET 88 13
122 HLN CNN/CNN THIS MORNING 81 192
123 FBN BARRONS ROUNDTABLE 66 13
124 NWSN ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT 58 68
125 NWSN NEWSNATION NOW W/ BERLIE 54 70
126 NWSN NEWSNATION NOW W/ MCSHANE 48 70
127 NWSN NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES 47 70
128 FBN SUNDAY FUTURES 46 14
129 NWSN ELIZABETH VARGAS REPORTS 45 69
130 NWSN HILL, THE 44 70
131 CNBC WORLDWIDE EXCHANGE 39 67
132 CNBC STREET SIGNS 36 59
133 NWSN MORNING IN AMERICA 34 70
Source: Nielsen. Live+SD 4Q 2023. Total Day. Original programs, excluding repeats, specials, Breaking news, and show with less than 10 telecasts. 9/25/23-12/31/23

Fox News is home to the top 10 daily cable news shows in the key A25-54 demo for Q4. This time around, it’s Hannity that’s No. 1 for the quarter among Adults 25-54. The long-running weekday 9 p.m. offering averaged 286,000 viewers from the measurement.

Hannity is followed in the A25-54 rankings by The Five (275,000), Gutfeld! (269,000), Jesse Watters Primetime (252,000) and The Ingraham Angle (216,000).

MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show was the top-rated non-Fox cable news show among Adults 25-54 in Q4, averaging 212,000 viewers from the measurement (No. 6 overall). If one excludes TRMS (because it’s a weekly offering), CNN’s Erin Burnett Outfront is No. 1 among all non-Fox News shows in the demo (160,000 at 7 p.m.). CNN and MSNBC regularly-scheduled primetime programming struggled in the latter stages of 2023.

Below, the full cable news show ranker sorted by Adults 25-54, and including number of telecasts:

Ranked on P25-54 Q4 2023 Cable News 
Rank Network PROGRAM NAME A25-54 (000) T/C
1 FOXN HANNITY 286 53
2 FOXN FIVE, THE 275 62
3 FOXN GUTFELD! 269 49
4 FOXN JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME 252 54
5 FOXN INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE 216 58
6 MSNB RACHEL MADDOW SHOW  (Mondays) 212 12
7 FOXN SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER 210 65
8 FOXN OUTNUMBERED 199 66
9 FOXN FAULKNER FOCUS, THE 196 66
10 FOXN FOX NEWS AT NIGHT 191 71
11 FOXN AMERICAS NEWSROOM 184 132
12 CNN CNN SPECIAL COVERAGE 183 17
13 FOXN AMERICA REPORTS 172 132
14 FOXN STORY, THE 170 66
15 FOXN YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO 169 65
16 FOXN CAVUTO LIVE 160 24
16 CNN ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT 160 68
16 CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 160 79
19 MSNB BEAT W/ARI MELBER 156 67
20 FOXN SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES 155 14
21 MSNB ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES (Tues-Fri) 149 52
22 MSNB REIDOUT 145 63
23 FOXN FOX & FRIENDS SATURDAY 143 56
24 MSNB ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT (Tues-Fri) 140 54
25 CNN LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER 139 121
26 FOXN FOX AND FRIENDS 137 195
26 CNN SITUATION ROOM 137 88
28 MSNB DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE 135 67
28 MSNB LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL 135 62
30 MSNB INSIDE W/ JEN PSAKI (Monday) 134 14
30 FOXN FOX & FRIENDS SUNDAY 134 57
30 CNN SOURCE W KAITLAN COLLINS 134 68
33 CNN NEWSNIGHT w/ ABBY PHILLIP 132 49
34 FOXN MEDIA BUZZ 127 14
35 CNN CNN PRIMETIME 122 10
36 MSNB MORNING JOE 120 130
37 CNN STATE OF THE UNION 119 18
38 MSNB 11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE 113 62
38 CNN CNN NEWS CENTRAL 113 410
40 CNN INSIDE POLITICS 112 78
41 FOXN ONE NATION   w/ BRIAN KILMEADE 111 13
42 CNN FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS 110 12
43 CNN LAURA COATES LIVE 107 57
44 FOXN BIG WEEKEND SHOW, THE 106 28
45 FOXN LIFE, LIBERTY AND LEVIN 105 21
46 FOXN FOX NEWS LIVE 104 121
47 FOXN SUNDAY NIGHT IN AMERICA. 98 11
48 MSNB KATY TUR REPORTS 95 66
48 FOXN FOX REPORT WITH JON SCOTT 95 42
50 CNN SMERCONISH 92 12
50 CNN CNN NEWSROOM 92 227
52 MSNB CHRIS JANSING REPORTS 89 68
53 MSNB ANA CABRERA REPORTS 86 67
53 FOXN FOX NEWS SUNDAY 86 13
53 FOXN FOX & FRIENDS FIRST 86 73
56 FOXN JOURNAL EDITORIAL REPORT 83 13
57 MSNB ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS 81 66
58 MSNB JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS 76 66
59 CNN CNN THIS MORNING 72 210
60 CNN CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND 70 73
61 MSNB INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI 67 14
62 CNN CNN NEWSROOM LIVE 65 321
63 MSNB VELSHI 59 24
64 MSNB SUNDAY SHOW W/J. CAPEHART 58 10
65 MSNB SATURDAY SHW W/J.CAPEHART 55 11
65 MSNB ALEX WITT REPORTS 55 31
67 CNN EARLY START 52 64
68 MSNB MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE 50 45
69 MSNB AYMAN 47 27
69 MSNB KATIE PHANG SHOW 47 24
71 CNBC MONEY MOVERS 46 14
72 MSNB YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN REPRTS 45 22
72 MSNB WAY TOO EARLY 45 64
74 MSNB AMERCAN VOICES W/MENENDEZ 41 24
74 MSNB POLITICS NATION 41 23
74 MSNB SYMONE 41 23
74 CNBC FAST MONEY HALFTIME RPRT 41 67
74 CNBC SQUAWK ON THE STREET 41 68
79 CNBC EXCHANGE, THE 38 67
79 HLN CNN/CNN THIS MORNING WKND 38 74
81 CNBC CLOSING BELL 37 136
82 MSNB DATELINE 36 18
82 MSNB SKY NEWS ON MSNBC 36 10
84 CNBC POWER LUNCH 35 67
85 MSNB MORNING JOE WEEKEND 32 11
86 CNBC FAST MONEY 31 68
87 NMX ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT 28 70
88 NWSN CUOMO 26 68
89 NMX ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE 25 70
89 HLN CNN/CNN THIS MORNING 25 192
91 NMX GREG KELLY REPORTS 24 64
92 CNBC MAD MONEY 23 67
92 CNBC SQUAWK BOX 23 68
94 NWSN BANFIELD 20 67
95 NMX RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS 19 68
95 CNBC LAST CALL 19 70
97 FBN KUDLOW 18 56
97 NMX CARL HIGBIE FRONTLINE 18 70
97 NMX CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE 18 70
97 NMX AMERICAN AGENDA 18 70
101 NMX CHRIS PLANTE RIGHT SQUAD 17 63
102 NMX WAKE UP AMERICA 16 70
102 NWSN DAN ABRAMS LIVE 16 66
102 NWSN NEWSNATION PRIME 16 81
105 NMX NATIONAL REPORT 15 72
106 NMX AMERICA RIGHT NOW 14 14
107 NMX NEWSLINE 13 70
107 NMX SUNDAY REPORT 13 14
109 FBN EVENING EDIT, THE 12 67
110 FBN VARNEY & COMPANY 11 198
110 NMX SATURDAY REPORT 11 14
110 NMX WAKE UP AMERICA WEEKEND 11 28
110 FBN MORNINGS WITH M.BARTIROMO 11 189
110 NWSN ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT 11 68
115 NMX COUNT; THE 10 12
115 FBN CLAMAN COUNTDOWN, THE 10 66
115 NMX SUNDAY AGENDA 10 14
115 NWSN NEWSNATION NOW W/ BERLIE 10 70
119 FBN CAVUTO COAST TO COAST 9 66
119 FBN MAKING MONEY W/C.PAYNE 9 65
119 FBN BOTTOM LINE, THE 9 67
119 NWSN NEWSNATION NOW W/ MCSHANE 9 70
119 NWSN NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES 9 70
119 NWSN HILL, THE 9 70
119 CNBC STREET SIGNS 9 59
126 FBN BIG MONEY SHOW, THE 8 66
126 NMX SATURDAY AGENDA 8 13
126 FBN M. BARTIROMOS WALL STREET 8 13
126 NWSN ELIZABETH VARGAS REPORTS 8 69
126 CNBC WORLDWIDE EXCHANGE 8 67
131 FBN SUNDAY FUTURES 7 14
132 FBN BARRONS ROUNDTABLE 6 13
133 NWSN MORNING IN AMERICA 5 70
Source: Nielsen. Live+SD 4Q 2023. Total Day. Original programs, excluding repeats, specials, Breaking news, and show with less than 10 telecasts. 9/25/23-12/31/23

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