Fox News Channel ended July as the most-watched network on basic cable, while liberal CNN dropped to new lows for key categories.
Americans flock to Fox News in a busy month. This included coverage of the tragic Miami building collapse, Richard Branson’s launch into space, and continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Fox News had 1.2 million viewers per day to be ranked No. The No. 1 cable network in total viewers was Fox News, followed closely by MSNBC and HGTV.
Fox News was also first in primetime between 8-11 p.m. ET was the dominant network with a total of 2.1 million viewers. MSNBC was second, but it was not far behind with 1.3million viewers. HGTV and TNT were the other top five.
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” was the most-watched program on cable news, averaging 3.1 million viewers. Hannity” finished second with 2.7 million and “The Five” finished third, averaging 2.5 million viewers to beat all primetime programming on CNN and MSNBC despite airing at 5 p.m. ET.
“Gutfeld!” dominated cable news in the 11 p.m. ET timeslot, outdrawing anything CNN had to offer regardless of time.
CNN’s most popular weekday show was “Cuomo Prime Time,” which finished No. 22 behind 14 Fox News programs and seven MSNBC offerings. “Tucker,” “Hannity,” The Five,” The Ingraham Angle,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “FOX News Primetime,” Gutfeld!,” “Outnumbered,” “America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino,” “The Faulkner Focus,” “America Reports with John Roberts & Sandra Smith,” “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” “Your World with Neil Cavuto” and “Fox & Friends” all averaged more viewers than CNN’s most-watched show.
CNN’s poor primetime lineup was seventh in basic cable, just behind Hallmark Channel.
Fox News beat MSNBC and CNN among adults 25-54 years old. They averaged 201,000 viewers to CNN’s 125,000 and MSNBC’s 103,000 respectively. This was CNN’s lowest-rated day since September 2014.
Fox News had 333,000 viewers during primetime while CNN had only 190,000. MSNBC was at 168,000.
“FOX & Friends” averaged 1.1 million viewers to finish as the most-watched morning show on cable news for the fourth-straight month, while CNN’s “New Day” continued to struggle.
“New Day” had its worst month since 2014 in the key demo, averaging only 84,000 viewers in the category coveted by advertisers compared to 200,000 for “Fox & Friends.”
Saturday programs “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino,” “Watters’ World” and “Justice with Judge Jeanine” all crushed their timeslot competition, too. “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” was the most-watched cable news show on Sundays and “MediaBuzz” easily topped CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”
“Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy” outdrew all Sunday offerings on MSNBC and CNN.
All data is courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.
