Fox News’ The Five marked yet another month as the most-watched cable news show, averaging 3.3 million total viewers in the 5 p.m. hour during September 2022. That’s now nine out of the past 10 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.
Tucker Carlson Tonight remains the second-most-watched show on cable news. In September, the 8 p.m. opinion news-talk show averaged 3.09 million viewers.
Jesse Watters Primetime is the third-most-watched cable news show in September (2.73 million), followed by Hannity (2.64 million) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.38 million) rounding out the top five in average total viewers for September 2022.
All in all, Fox News Channel is home to the top eight cable news shows in total viewers—and 14 of the top 20 for the month of September.
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell is MSNBC’s most-watched show in September, averaging 1.735 million total viewers at 10 p.m. and overtaking the network’s 9 p.m. hour, which primarily consisted of Alex Wagner Tonight.
Anderson Cooper 360 is CNN’s most-watched show in September (No. 26 overall), averaging 882,000 total viewers at 8 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: 3,297,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,087,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m./Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,734,000 / 13 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m./ Hannity: 2,639,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,382,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld! : 2,130,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 2,099,000 / 14 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered: 1,814,000 / 18 telecasts
- MSNBC | 10 p.m./The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell: 1,735,000 / 16 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m. / The Faulkner Focus: 1,705,000 / 19 telecasts
Below, the cable news show ranker that’s sorted by most to fewest average total viewers:
Cable News Show Ranker September 2022 (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.
Tucker Carlson Tonight remains No. 1 on cable news in the aforementioned demographic, averaging 438,000 adults 25-54 in September. The Five came in second (420,000) with Jesse Watters Primetime (348,000), Hannity (340,000) and Gutfeld! (338,000) rounding out the top five.
Fox News has the top 15 shows on cable news among adults 25-54 this past month. Anderson Cooper 360 is the top cable news show among adults 25-54 not to air on Fox News in September, coming in at No. 16 with a 187,000 A25-54 average in September. MSNBC’s 9 p.m. hour dropped from No. 8 to No. 20, averaging the same number of adults 25-54 as The Last Word (155,000).
Here are the top 10 cable news shows among adults 25-54 for September ’22, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen:
- Fox News| 8 p.m./ Tucker Carlson Tonight: 438,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 5 p.m. / The Five: 420,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m. / Jesse Watters Primetime: 348,000 / 13 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m. / Hannity: 340,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld!: 338,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 311,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 293,000 / 14 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m./Outnumbered: 249,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-10 a.m.,10-11 a.m./America’s Newsroom: 232,000 / 35 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m./The Faulkner Focus: 223,000 / 19 telecasts
Below, the full cable news program ranker sorted by most to fewest adults 25-54: