Cable News Primetime Ratings: CNN Edges Out MSNBC for 2nd Place in the Key Demo
Fox News maintained a steady lead against CNN and MSNBC during last week’s cable primetime in terms of both total viewership and in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 news demographic, though CNN and MSNBC battled it out for second place in the demo.
During primetime from Monday, Sept. 19 through Friday, Sept. 23, Fox News came in first with an average total viewership of 2.56 million. MSNBC took second place at 1.59 million viewers and CNN trailed in third place with 742,000 average viewers, according to official live plus same-day Nielsen data.
In the demo, Fox News took the cake with 346,200 average viewers, as compared to CNN’s 155,400 average viewers in the demo. MSNBC came in third place with 141,200.
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In the 8 p.m. hour, Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” won with 2.98 million average total viewers and with 410,600 average viewers in the demo. MSNBC’s “All in With Chris Hayes” came in second for total viewership with 1.64 million average viewers and CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” trailed in third place at 833,600 average viewers. However, CNN beat MSNBC in the demo with 182,600 average viewers while MSNBC obtained 152,800 average viewers in the demo.
Fox News stayed in the lead with 2.64 million average viewers and 336,400 average viewers in the demo for “Hannity” in the 9 p.m. slot. For total viewership, MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight” came in second at 1.61 million average viewers and CNN’s “CNN Tonight” trailed behind with 696,800 average viewers. In the demo, however, CNN beat out MSNBC with 140,600 average viewers while MSNBC acquired 135,200 average viewers in the demo.
The trend continued in the 10 p.m. hour, with Fox News’ “The Ingram Angle” earning 2.07 million average viewers for first place, MSNBC’s “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell” following with 1.52 million average viewers and CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” lagging with 696,200 total viewers. In the demo, Fox News got 291,600 average viewers while CNN earned 142,600 average viewers and MSNBC came in last place with 135,000 average viewers in the key demo.
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