Fox News Channel was the top source for New Hampshire primary coverage, and Fox says it was the second-biggest primary audience in total viewers ever.
According to Nielsen, FNC averaged 4 million viewers (technically 3,929,170 in P2+) from 7 to 11 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 9), second only (in terms of viewing primary coverage) to the 4.4 million that tuned in for FNC’s Iowa caucus coverage last week. The coverage also drew 909,828 viewers in the key news 25-54 demo.
By comparison, CNN drew 2,487,962 in P2+ and 848,873 in the demo at 7-11. MSNBC was third with a 1,662,543 in P2+ and 455,222 in the demo.
CNN, citing Nielsen Fast National numbers, touted its advantages in total viewers over MSNBC and said that, among younger viewers (ages 18-34), CNN with 302,000 topped Fox News (201K) and MSNBC (127K). CNN also said it had the most growth against the last New Hampshire primary (in 2012) and said CNN Digital’s traffic topped the record set on the day of the Iowa Caucuses a week ago, with more than 7 million unique visitors and 15 million page views on CNNPolitics.com. Nearly 3 million unique users engaged on CNN's mobile app and there were 13 million unique visitors for CNN Digital overall, the network said.
