Ratings

Wednesday, Feb. 19 Scoreboard: Last Night’s Debate Was 3rd Highest-Rated Show Ever on MSNBC

By A.J. Katz 

Last night’s Democratic primary debate drew a record 19.7 million total TV viewers. 12 million of those viewers watched on NBC, and 7.6 million watched on MSNBC.

That 7.62 million represents the third-largest audience for any telecast in the history of the network.

Which MSNBC telecasts delivered larger audiences? One is actually a sports broadcast: USA men’s hockey vs. Canada during the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympics on Feb. 21, 2010 (8.2 million total viewers). That was actually the first time the U.S. had defeated Canada in men’s hockey during an Olympics since 1960.

Advertisement

The second-most-watched MSNBC broadcast was the network’s presidential debate in Cleveland with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Feb. 26, 2008 (7.7 million total viewers). That debate aired only on MSNBC, and was not simulcast on NBC or anywhere else.

25-54 demographic (Live+SD x 1,000)

Total Day: FNC: 361 | CNN: 181 | MSNBC: 401
Prime: FNC: 558 | CNN: 216 | MSNBC: 1.470

FNC: CNN: MSNBC:
4PM Cavuto:
263		 Tapper:
142		 Wallace:
121
5PM Five:
503		 Blitzer:
164		 MTPDaily:
110
6PM Baier:
478		 Blitzer:
180		 Melber:
166
7PM MacCallum:
444		 Burnett:
222		 Matthews:
250
8PM Carlson:
573		 Cooper:
349		 MS Dbte:
522
9PM Hannity:
551		 Cuomo:
155		 Debate:
1.942
10PM Ingraham:
550		 Lemon:
144		 Cont.:
—-
11PM @Night:
492		 Dbte Post:
458		 Williams:
1.000

Total Viewers (Live+SD x 1,000)
Total Day: FNC: 2.118 | CNN: 707 | MSNBC: 1.987
Prime: FNC: 3.345 | CNN: 772 | MSNBC: 6.002

FNC CNN MSNBC:
4PM Cavuto:
1.733		 Tapper:
837		 Wallace:
1.367
5PM Five:
3.214		 Blitzer:
858		 MTPDaily:
1.109
6PM Baier:
2.815		 Blitzer:
806		 Melber:
1.274
7PM MacCallum:
2.533		 Burnett:
992		 Matthews:
1.527
8PM Carlson:
3.823		 Cooper:
1.457		 MS Dbte:
2.768
9PM Hannity:
3.213		 Cuomo:
1.588		 Debate:
7.614
10PM Ingraham:
2.994		 Lemon:
1.496		 Cont.:
—-
11PM @Night:
2.829		 Dbte Post:
858		 Williams:
4.373

 

Advertisement