The Five kicked off 2022 as cable news’ most-watched show, averaging nearly 3.57 million viewers in Fox News’ 5 p.m. timeslot. The panel program, which added Jeanine Pirro as a full-time co-host earlier in the month, averaged the second-largest A25-54 audience in January (504,000), according to Nielsen live-plus-same day data.
Tucker Carlson Tonight ranked No. 1 in the aforementioned demo in January ’22, averaging 560,000 adults 25-54 at 8 p.m. The program also averaged 3.41 million total viewers at 8 p.m., No. 2 on cable news.
At 7 p.m., FNC’s newly-launched Jesse Watters Primetime drew 3.3 million viewers and 490,000 in the 25-54 demo, more than what Fox News’ 7 p.m. hour had been averaging with rotating guest-hosts.
Fox News Channel delivered 95 of the 100-most-watched telecasts on cable this past month, nine of the ten-most-watched cable news shows, and the network had six shows that averaged more than two million viewers.
The Rachel Maddow Show was MSNBC’s most-watched show for January, coming in at No. 7 in the cable news total viewer rankings, while Anderson Cooper 360 was CNN’s most-watched show for January, coming in at No. 23.
Here are the 10 most-watched cable news shows for Jan. 2022, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
- Fox News | 5 p.m. /The Five: 3,573,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,414,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. /Hannity: 2,862,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,616,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m. / Fox News Primetime / Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,385,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m. / The Ingraham Angle: 2,225,000 / 17 telecasts
- MSNBC | 9 p.m. / The Rachel Maddow Show: 2,014,000 / 23 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m. / Gutfeld!: 1,906,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m./Outnumbered: 1,807,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m. / America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino: 1,765,000 / 41 telecasts
Below, the full cable news program ranker:
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 November, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen (560,000). The Five finished in this key measurement for the second consecutive month, while Hannity, Fox News Primetime/Jesse Watters Primetime, and Special Report rounded out the top five on cable news among adults 25-54.
Fox News had the top 13 shows on cable news among adults 25-54 this past month.
The Rachel Maddow Show is the only non-Fox offering to crack the top 15 in the demo, coming in at No. 14 (238,000). MSNBC placed just four of the top 25 cable news shows among adults 25-54 for Jan. 2022.
CNN’s top show in the key A25-54 demo for January is Anderson Cooper 360. AC 360 averaged 160,000 viewers from the measurement (No. 17 on cable news). CNN placed six of the top 25 cable news shows for the month among adults 25-54.
Here are the top 10 cable news shows among adults 25-54 for Nov. 2021, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen:
- Fox News| 8 p.m./ Tucker Carlson Tonight: 560,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 5 p.m. / The Five: 504,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. / Hannity: 433,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m. / Fox News Primetime/Jesse Watters Primetime: 388,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 387,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m. / The Ingraham Angle: 376,000 / 17 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m. / Gutfeld!: 343,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m./ Outnumbered: 278,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m. / America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino: 270,000 / 41 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m. / The Faulkner Focus: 266,000 / 21 telecasts
Below, the full cable news program ranker: