Weekly Cable Ratings: Fox News Outdistances Olympics-Charged USA Network

By
published

Cable news network tops primetime chart for fourth straight week

Sunisa Lee of Team United States competes on balance beam during the Women's All-Around Final on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on July 29, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
USA Network draws 1.7 million viewers in primetime on the strength of its Summer Olympics coverage (Image credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Fox News fought off a Summer Olympics-fueled push by USA Network to remain at the top of the weekly cable primetime and total day ratings charts, according to Nielsen.

Fox News averaged 1.9 million viewers in primetime for the week of July 26 to Aug. 1 to lead all cable networks for the fourth consecutive week, said Nielsen. 

USA Network, which aired live Tokyo Summer Olympics coverage throughout the week, finished second with 1.7 million viewers, followed  by MSNBC with 1.1 million viewers.

Read Also: NBC Gives the Tokyo Olympics TV's Biggest Promo Push Three Weeks in a Row

HGTV was fourth for the week with 975,000 viewers, followed by TLC with 894,000 watchers. 

Hallmark Channel (884,000 viewers), INSP (807,000), TNT (718,000), CNN (706,000) and TBS (699,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week. 

Fox News topped the total day chart for the 24th consecutive week, averaging 1.1 million viewers, followed by USA Network (778,000 viewers), MSNBC (751,000), HGTV (577,000) and CNN (558,00), reported Nielsen. 

Read Also: Fox News Blows Out Competition in July Ratings Race 

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.