During the opening week of September (so says the Nielsen calendar), Fox News was the most-watched network on all of TV during prime time, delivering 3.5 million total viewers on average. The network was also successfully able to advance its winning streak on basic cable to 35 straight weeks among total viewers in total day, and remained the most-watched basic cable network in prime time for the second consecutive week, after finishing behind MSNBC two weeks earlier.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Tucker Carlson Tonight was the top-ranked cable news show last week, averaging 4.9 million viewers and 914,000 A25-54 viewers. Hannity took second place, with 4.7 million viewers and 819,000 adults 25-54.
How did cable news “big three” perform relative to the prior week? Versus the week of Aug. 24, Fox News was down the most, -33% in total prime-time viewers, -20% in total day viewers, -41% in the prime-time demo (adults 25-54) and -26% in the the demo in total day.
The week-to-week drop-off makes sense considering the network was a week removed from a record-setting Republican National Convention (+10% in total viewers versus 2016 RNC).
MSNBC, on the other hand, remained No. 2 in total viewers across cable (2.2 million), and saw audience growth:+39% in total prime-time viewers, +8% in total day viewers, +4% in the prime-time demo (adults 25-54), but -3% in the demo in total day.
CNN drops to No. 6 in prime time (1.5 million), finishing behind its WarnerMedia sibling, TNT, and ESPN, which are in the midst of televising a fascinating NBA Playoffs, and TLC. CNN also finished behind TLC in total prime-time viewers. Despite the week-to-week drop in the prime-time rankings, CNN saw +1% growth in total prime-time viewers. While CNN did grow in total prime-time viewers, the network was -7% in total day viewers (despite remaining No. 3 in total day among all ad-supported cable networks). Without a convention to broadcast, CNN was -19% in the prime-time demo and -14% in the demo in total day from the prior week.
Compared with the same week one year ago (which included Labor Day, Sept. 2), the big three cable newsers continue to trend well. Fox News was +60% in total prime-time viewers, +39% in total day viewers, +79% in the prime-time demo and +42% in the demo during total day. MSNBC was +54% in total prime-time viewers, +47% in total day viewers, +51% in the prime-time demo and +61% in the demo during total day. CNN, which always sees significant growth in election years, was +73% in total prime-time viewers, +45% in total day viewers, +45% in the prime-time demo and +45% in the total day demo versus the year-ago week. However, CNN did come up short to MSNBC in the prime-time demo, a rarity in recent weeks and months.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers in prime time for the week of Aug. 31, 2020:
| FNC | MSNBC | CNN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,540,000 | 2,169,000 | 1,505,000 |
| • A25-54: | 602,000 | 334,000 | 295,000 |
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers in total day for the week of Aug. 31, 2020:
| FNC | MSNBC | CNN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 1,819,000 | 1,224,000 | 930,000 |
| • A25-54: | 312,000 | 185,000 | 218,000 |
The 10-most-watched ad-supported cable networks in prime time for the week of Aug. 31: Fox News, MSNBC, TNT, ESPN, TLC, CNN, HGTV, NBCSN (NHL Playoffs coverage), TBS, and Hallmark Channel.
Week of Aug. 31 Basic cable ranker (Total Viewers)
The top 10 ad-supported cable networks in prime time (adults 25-54) for the week: TNT, ESPN, Fox News, NBCSN, TLC, TBS, MSNBC, Food Network, HGTV and CNN.
Week of Aug. 31 Basic cable ranker (Adults 25-54)
ESPN was the No. 1 ad-supported cable network during the year-ago week, lifted by its U.S. Open and college football programming. On Labor Day, Monday 2019 (Sept. 2), FNC was the most-watched cable news network for special breaking news coverage of Hurricane Dorian. When it came to drawing the key A25-54 demo, however, The Weather Channel was No. 1.