Fox News Channel wrestled the weekly primetime ratings crown from ESPN last week as the two networks continue their dominance. 

Fox News averaged 2.4 million viewers for the week of Dec. 13-Dec. 19, regaining the top spot from ESPN, which finished second with 1.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Either Fox News or ESPN have topped the primetime ratings for the past eight weeks. 

Hallmark Channel was third with 1.4 million viewers, followed by NFL Network’s 1.4 million viewers and MSNBC’s 1.3 million watchers. The rest of the top 10 most-watched networks include Paramount Network (1 million viewers), HGTV (870,000), TBS (864,000), Freeform (862,000) and Food Network (794,000). 

Fox News continued to dominate the total day chart, winning for the 44th consecutive week, besting Hallmark Channel (827,000), ESPN (739,000), MSNBC (727,000), and CNN (517,000), according to Nielsen. ■

The worldwide leader was on top of Nielsen’s primetime cable world in 2014.

Averaging nearly 2.32 million watchers, ESPN set the cable pace in the daypart during 2014, according to Nielsen data. The sports network unseated USA Network, which averaged 2.13 million watchers. TNT, Disney Channel and History rounded out the top five, with 1.99 million, 1.91 million and 1.824 million watchers, respectively.

According to a Disney Media Networks analysis of Nielsen (reflecting a blend of live+seven-day data from Dec. 30, 2013 through Dec. 14 and live+same-day data from Dec. 15 through Dec. 28), TBS was sixth with 1.817 million, ahead of Fox News Channel’s 1.78 million. FX was eighth with 1.40 million, slightly ahead of Discovery Channel’s 1.39 million. HGTV completed the top 10, averaging 1.34 million watchers.

Finishing just outside the top 10: AMC, whose zombie skein The Walking Dead dominated the upper echelon of programming rankings, averaging 1.33 million watchers; Cartoon Nework, with 1.28 million; A&E, which tallied almost 1.26 million; and ABC Family at 1.20 million.

Gauged on a total-day basis, perennial winner Nickelodeon took home the prize again with 1.51 million watchers on average, ahead of rival Disney Channel, which closed the Nielsen calendar with just under 1.4 million. Adult Swim (1.18 million), USA (1.16 million) and Fox News (1.06 million) rounded out the top 5 in this measure.

How dominant was The Walking Dead? The show, which benefits greatly from time-shifted viewing, chomped 16 of the top 20 spots, including nine of the top 10, headed by almost 23.4 million for the bow of its fifth campaign on Oct. 12. That installment was illustrative of how the show grows with delayed viewing, The premiere garnered 17.3 million watchers, a record for a cable drama, but the installment tacked on an additional 6.1 million watchers to its total on the live+7-day measure.

ESPN’s college and pro football coverage scored the other eight spots. The final BCS Championship game, Florida State’s last-second win over Auburn on Jan. 6 (pictured), was cable’s top show of 2014, tomahawk-chopping over 25.7 million watchers.

With two weeks remaining in 2014, NBCSN is nearing the finish line on its best ever year with the total-day measure.

Lifted by contributions from the Sochi Olympics, as well as strong performances by its NHL, Premier League and auto racing properties, NBCSN officials said the service is also the fastest-growing sports cable network, gauged on a total-day basis.

Over the first 50 weeks of the Nielsen year -- Dec. 30, 2013 through Dec. 14, 2014 -- NBCSN averaged 145,000 total-day watchers, a 54% jump from 94,000 at the corresponding stage of 2013.  NBCSN executives said that growth rate is five times greater than any other cable sports network.

At this stage, the 145,000 average also ranks 23% above the service’s – then known as Versus – previous best performance of 118,000 viewers in 2009.

On the demo watch, NBCSN registered 46% and 48% advances among adults 18 to 49 and 25 to 49, respectively. Those gains also top the list among sports cable networks.

In primetime, NBCSN has scored a 7% increase to 302,000 viewers from 282,000 in 2013.

NBCSN’s performance benefited greatly from the Winter Olympics. The service averaged 1.6 million viewers from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. (ET), 134% amelioration from the 692,000 for its daytime presentation from the London Summer Games in 2012.  The 10 best weekday daytime audiences in NBCSN’s history came during its run in Sochi, while the network’s five highest viewership totals for weekend daytime were also recorded during the quadrennial from Russia.

Backing out the impact of the Winter Games, NBSCN would have tallied 116,000 watchers in total-day, year-to-date, a 23% bump from 2013 and still the best growth rate in the sector.  

Elsewhere, NBCSN lit the Nielsen lamp during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, averaging nearly 1.23 million viewers over 62 contests last spring. That was the best postseason for the puck sport on cable since 1997.

On the pitch, NBCSN, after a cable-record-setting 2013-14 campaign yielded average viewership of 420,000, has added 15% to that base during its second season with the U.K.’s top soccer circuit.  Most of the action plays out on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Similarly, Formula One has buttressed NBCSN’s position in what officials say amounts to a new daypart. Even though many races drop the flag before 8 a.m. (ET), NBCSN revved the best-ever season for a single cable network with 385,000 viewers on average for 12 races, 86% improvement from 207,000 for 13 races a year ago.

Meanwhile, NBCSN averaged 378,000 viewers during the 2014 IndyCar season, a 34% surge from 2013 and the second-best performance behind the 402,000 in 2011 since its predecessor acquired the rights in 2011. 

TNT rode its original series to the top of the third-quarter primetime ratings charts, the second straight quarterly win for the drama network.

TNT, whose second-quarter win broke USA Network’s record of 31 straight winning quarters dating back to the mid-2000s, made it two in a row by averaging 2.2 million viewers (down 3% from Q3 2013) during the period of June 30 to Sept. 28, according to Nielsen ratings figures. TNT was paced by strong performances from established original series Major Crimes and Rizzoli & Isles, as well as new series The Last Ship.

USA finished second, averaging 2.1 million viewers, which was off 23% from the same period last year. Helped by strong performances from WWE Monday Night Raw and Suits, USA took the top spot among entertainment networks in key demos, including adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34, according to Nielsen.

Disney Channel finished third among all basic-cable networks, averaging 1.9 million viewers, down 24% from last year, followed by ESPN (down 8%) and Fox News Channel (up 11%), which tied with 1.8 million viewers each, according to Nielsen.

History fell 16% from Q3 2013 in finishing fifth, with 1.7 million viewers, while TBS (1.6 million viewers, down 12%), HGTV (1.4 million, up 8%), FX (1.3 million, down 2%), Discovery Channel (1.3 million, down 1%) and A&E Network (1.2 million, down 32%) rounded out the top 10.

On a 24-hour basis, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon finished in a virtual tie, both averaging 1.4 million viewers and both falling off 20% from the same period last year. Adult Swim (1.1 million viewers, down 9%) finished third, while USA lost 11% of its audience, Cartoon Network broken even and Fox News was up 2% as the three networks tied with 1.0 million viewers.

On the cable news front, Fox News continued its dominance of the category, averaging 1.8 million viewers to top all comers. CNN barely nipped MSNBC for second-place honors, with CNN posting a 3% increase to 562,000 viewers and MSNBC dropping 4% to 561,000 watchers, according to Nielsen. HLN finished fourth with 357,000 viewers, which was down 3% from last year.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football games and its July 1 FIFA World Cup telecast represented the top five most-watched shows during the quarter, with a Sept. 9 episode of FX’s drama series Sons of Anarchy, MTV’s Aug. 24 Video Music Awards telecast and three summer episodes of TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles making up the top 10 shows for the quarter, according to Nielsen.