cable ratings

TNT and ESPN’s NBA and NHL playoffs coverage kept both networks at the top of the primetime charts last week. TNT averaged 2.9 million viewers for the week of May 15 to May 21 to top all cable networks for the fifth straight week, with ESPN finishing second with 2.5 million viewers.

TNT and ESPN continued to ride live sports programming to the top of the primetime charts during the second week in May. TNT led all cable networks with an average of 3 million viewers in primetime May 5-14, according to Nielsen ratings supplied by Fox News, followed by ESPN with 2.8 million viewers. Both networks were powered by their respective NBA and NHL playoffs coverage. Fox News finished third with 1.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.1 million viewers and HGTV with 731,000 watchers.

TNT and ESPN dominated the primetime ratings chart for the second straight week on the strength of its NBA and NHL Playoffs coverage.

Fox News Channel withstood a challenge from March Madness-heavy TNT and TBS to remain at the top of the primetime and total-day charts last week, according to Nielsen. Fox News averaged 1.9 million viewers for the week of March 13-20 to garner its eighth-straight win in primetime, according to Nielsen. TNT finished a close second with 1.8 million viewers, followed by TBS’s 1.7 million viewers and truTV’s 1.1 million watchers. All three networks benefited from early round coverage of the March Madness NCAA men’s college basketball tournament.

Fox News Channel has extended its weekly winning streak in both primetime and total-day ratings into March. The news network averaged 2 million viewers during the week of Feb. 27-March 6 to notch its sixth straight win, according to Nielsen. ESPN finished second with 1.2 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.1 million.

February marked CNN’s lowest-rated month in a decade, with the network’s primetime lineup dropping 42% among viewers 25-54 — the key demographic group valued by advertisers — compared to the same month one year ago. CNN drew an average primetime audience of 122,000 viewers in the key demo, compared to Fox News Channel’s 299,000 viewers (down 33%). MSNBC was third overall with 119,000 viewers (down 15%).

Sports nets ESPN and FS1 finish among the top-viewed networks in primetime, total day.

Fox News again topped its cable news rivals in total viewers and a key demographic during the month of September and for the third quarter. But it was a rather dismal period for the networks when it comes to drawing viewers in the key 25-54 demo, as they all saw audience declines in the category versus a year ago.

Fox News topped the March ratings as well as the first quarter of 2022, while CNN saw its ratings rise in the past month, dominated by coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fox News averaged 2.86 million viewers in primetime, up 19% from the same month a year earlier. MSNBC averaged 1.28 million, down 29%, and CNN averaged 1.22 million, up 1%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 529,000, up 41%, while CNN posted 366,000, up 25%, and MSNBC was at 183,000, down 23%.

End-of-year ratings are in and Fox News finished off 2021 as the top-rated basic cable channel for the sixth straight year, netting a lot of other wins along the way. MSNBC came in second place, followed by CNN, ESPN and HGTV.

Fox News also had the top five programs in cable news in total viewers and the demo.

May ratings are in and Fox News beat its cable news competition in total-day viewership and primetime viewership in both total average viewers and viewers in the key demo, according to Nielsen Media Research data. CNN lost half of its key demo viewership year over year, but maintained its year-to-date lead in the demo.