Fox News’ The Five marked yet another month at No. 1 in average total viewers, averaging 3.39 million total viewers in the 5 p.m. hour during the month of August 2022. That’s now eight out of the past nine months that the panel news-talk program has averaged more viewers than any other cable news show; a remarkable achievement for a non-primetime show. The Five also averaged the second-largest A25-54 audience on cable news (427,000), according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data.
Tucker Carlson Tonight remains the second-most-watched show on cable news. In August, the 8 p.m. opinion news-talk show averaged 3.32 million viewers, up from its July average.
Hannity moved up to No. 3 in total primetime viewers, averaging 2.915 million total viewers during the month of August. The 7 p.m. Jesse Watters Primetime was the fourth-most-watched cable news show in August (2.86 million), with MSNBC’s now-weekly edition of The Rachel Maddow Show (2.73 million) rounding out the top five in average total viewers for August 2022.
All in all, Fox News Channel is home to the top four cable news shows in total viewers—and the top seven cable news shows among adults 25-54 for the month of August.
Fox News’ Gutfeld! is cable news’ eighth-most-watched show and No. 4 show among adults 25-54. It had its highest-rated month since April 2021 launch, averaging 2.19 million total viewers and 358,000 adults 25-54 at 11 p.m. ET.
Anderson Cooper 360 is CNN’s most-watched show in August (No. 25 overall), averaging 950,000 total viewers at 8 p.m.
MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight launched in August at 9 p.m., airing Tuesdays-Fridays. It was the network’s fourth-most-watched show through two weeks, finishing behind TRMS, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and MSNBC Prime. The show has averaged 1.55 million total viewers at 9 p.m.
Here are the 10 most-watched cable news shows for Aug. 2022, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
- Fox News | 5 p.m. /The Five: 3,389,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,316,000 / 14 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m./ Hannity: 2,915,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m./Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,856,000 / 15 telecasts
- MSNBC | 9 p.m./The Rachel Maddow Show: 2,726,000 / 4 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 2,484,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,386,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld! : 2,191,000 / 17 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered: 1,891,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m. / The Faulkner Focus: 1,714,000 / 20 telecasts
Below, the cable news show ranker that’s sorted by most to fewest average total viewers:
August ’22 Show Ranker (Total Viewers)
How about the top cable news shows among adults 25-54? After all, this is a demographic that advertisers of TV news traditionally focus their ad dollars on.
After Tucker Carlson Tonight and The Five, Hannity averaged the third-most adults 25-54, followed by Gutfeld! The Ingraham Angle, Jesse Watters Primetime, Special Report with Bret Baier, TRMS, Outnumbered and America’s Newsroom.
Fox News had the top seven shows on cable news among adults 25-54 this past month. The once-weekly The Rachel Maddow Show ranked No. 8 for the second consecutive month with a 292,000 A25-54 average.
Here are the top 10 cable news shows among adults 25-54 for August ’22, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen:
- Fox News| 8 p.m./ Tucker Carlson Tonight: 482,000 / 14 telecasts
- Fox News | 5 p.m. / The Five: 427,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. / Hannity: 397,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld!: 358,000 / 17 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 358,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m. / Jesse Watters Primetime: 356,000 / 15 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 306,000 / 20 telecasts
- MSNBC | 9 p.m. / The Rachel Maddow Show: 292,000 / 4 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m./Outnumbered: 254,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-10 a.m.,10-11 a.m./America’s Newsroom: 226,000 / 41 telecasts
Below, the full cable news program ranker sorted by most to fewest adults 25-54: