Fox News Sweeps Weekly Cable Ratings Charts

Fox News decimated the cable network field last week with its best weekly primetime ratings performance since the 2016 Elections, according to Nielsen.

Fox News' 'The Ingraham Angle'

Fox News' 'The Ingraham Angle'

Fox News averaged 4.4 million viewers during the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9 to blow away its nearest competitor MSNBC, which averaged 1.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Fox News also represented the top 35 most-watched shows of the week, led by its Feb. 4 coverage of the State of The Union address, which drew 11 million viewers, said Nielsen.

HGTV, CNN and TLC finished in a tie for third place in primetime with 1.1 million viewers. TNT, Hallmark Channel, A&E Network, and Discovery Channel (all tied with 1 million viewers) along with History (994,000) rounded out the week’s top 10 most watched cable networks in primetime, according to Nielsen.  

On the total day front, Fox News generated its best performance since 2017 with 2.2 million viewers. MSNBC, CNN, HGTV and Hallmark Channel all ranked among the top five most watched networks for the week, said Nielsen.

Fox News kept up its ratings momentum Tuesday, averaging 3.2 million viewers from 6 pm to 1 am for its coverage of the New Hampshire primary. The network’s primetime coverage of the primary drew a record 4.4 million viewers, easily beating out CNN and MSNBC, said Nielsen. 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.