Fox News dominated the ratings charts during the month of October as viewers gravitated to cable news networks for coverage surrounding the upcoming Presidential election.
Led by its record ratings-setting series Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News averaged 4.9 million viewers -- the network's best performance ever for the month (Sept. 28-Oct. 25), according to Nielsen. Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged 5.3 million viewers in October, a record for a cable news show. MSNBC finished a distant second with 2.7 million viewers, followed by ESPN with 2.6 million viewers and CNN with 2.4 million watchers, said Nielsen.
TBS's Major League Baseball playoffs coverage pushed them into the fifth spot with 1.5 million viewers, followed by HGTV (1.1 million viewers), Hallmark Channel and TLC (1 million), USA Network (778,000) and Food Network (770,000).
On a total day basis, Fox News returned to the top spot for the 10th consecutive month in 2020, averaging 2.3 million viewers. MSNBC, CNN, ESPN and HGTV rounded out the top five most-watched cable networks on a 24-hour basis, said Nielsen.
