Weekly Cable Ratings: Live Sports Keep TNT, ESPN At the Top of Primetime Chart

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Fox News leads total-day chart for 18th straight week

Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat moves the ball during Game 6 of the 2023 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Semi-Finals on May 12, 2023 .
Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat moves the ball during Game 6 of the 2023 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Semi-Finals on May 12. (Image credit: Getty Images)

TNT and ESPN continued to ride live sports programming to the top of the primetime charts during the second week in May.

TNT led all cable networks with an average of 3 million viewers in primetime during the period of May 8 to May 14, according to Nielsen ratings supplied by Fox News, followed by ESPN with 2.8 million viewers. Both networks were powered by their respective NBA and NHL playoffs coverage. 

Fox News finished third with 1.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.1 million viewers and HGTV with 731,000 watchers.

INSP was sixth with 716,000 viewers, followed by CNN (701,000 viewers), History (681,000), TLC (623,000) and Food Network (578,000).

Fox News was the most watched network on a total day basis for the 18th straight week with 1.1 million viewers, followed by ESPN (902,000 viewers), TNT (894,000), MSNBC (755,000) and CNN (462,000). 

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.