ESPN, led by its Monday Night Football franchise, dominated cable’s weekly primetime ratings charts for a fourth consecutive week, according to Nielsen.
ESPN averaged 3.7 million viewers during the week of Oct. 2 to Oct. 8 to finish first among all cable networks and ahead of second place Fox News Channel, which averaged 2.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen. TBS (2.3 million viewers) and FS1 (1.6 million viewers) rode strong performances from their respective Major League Baseball playoffs coverage to finish third and fourth for the week respectively.
MSNBC (1.4 million homes); CNN, USA and HGTV (all tied with 1.1 million viewers); Disney Channel (925,000) and Hallmark Channel (924,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched cable networks in primetime for the week.
Fox News bested ESPN, Nickelodeon, MSNBC and CNN on a total-day basis to win in the category for a fourth straight week.
ESPN was the top choice among adults 18-49 both in primetime and on a total-day basis, according to Nielsen.
Most Watched Cable Shows Oct. 2-8, 2017
DateShowNetworkTotal Viewers
10/2 Monday Night Football – Wash/KC ESPN 12.0 million
10/3 MLB Wild Card Game – Minn/NY Yankees ESPN 6.8 million
10/8 MLB Divisional Series – Cleve/NY Yankees FS1 5.2 million
10/7 College Football – Alabama-Texas A&M ESPN 4.7 million
10/4 MLB Wild Card Game – Colo./Ariz. TBS 4.4 million
10/5 Thursday Night Football – N.E./T.B. NFL Network 3.9 million
10/3 Hannity Fox News 3.8 million
10/2 Special Report W/ Bret Baier Fox News 3.8 million
10/2 Tucker Carlson Tonight Fox News 3.8 million
10/5 MLB Divisional Series – Cleve/NY Yankees FS1 3.7 million
10/2 Hannity Fox News 3.7 million
Source: Nielsen
