Weekly Cable Ratings: Fox News Fends Off TNT for Primetime Win

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

News networks dominate total day ratings

(Image credit: Fox News)

Fox News held off sports-infused TNT in topping the primetime cable ratings charts last week, according to Nielsen.

Fox News averaged 3.3 million viewers in primetime during the week of Sept. 7 to Sept. 13 to top all cable networks, said Nielsen. TNT rode its NBA playoffs coverage to a second place tie with MSNBC, with both networks averaging 2.1 million viewers. ESPN finished fourth with 1.9 million viewers, followed by HGTV and CNN, which tied with 1.3 million viewers.

TLC (1.1 million viewers), Hallmark Channel (978,000), TBS (880,000), and NBC Sports Network (826,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week in primetime.

Fox News continued its dominance on the total day ratings front, capturing top honors in the category for the 36th consecutive week. MSNBC, CNN, ESPN and TNT followed behind Fox News on the chart, said Nielsen. 

R. Thomas Umstead
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.