ESPN dethroned Fox News Channel at the top of last week’s primetime ratings chart, but the news network continued its domination on a 24-hour basis, according to Nielsen.
ESPN averaged 2.7 million viewers during the week of Sept. 20-26 to lead all cable networks and end Fox News’s hold on the top spot at 11 weeks, reported Nielsen. ESPN was led by its Sept. 20 Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions Monday Night Football telecast, which drew more than 13 million viewers.
Fox News finished second with 2.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.3 million viewers. NFL Network moved into fourth place with 1.1 million viewers, followed by HGTV’s 957,000 watchers. TLC (847,000 viewers), Discovery Channel (789,000), CNN (776,000), Hallmark Channel (775,000) and INSP (729,000) rounded out the top 10 most-watched cable networks in primetime.
Fox News rolled over the competition on the total-day charts, averaging 1.4 million viewers to finish first for the 31st consecutive week. ESPN (839,000 viewers), MSNBC (731,000), HGTV (581,000) and CNN (549,000) followed behind Fox News, said Nielsen.
