Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Dunks Sixth Straight Primetime Win

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Fox News notches 20th straight win in total day

Pat Connaughton #24 of the Milwaukee Bucks dunks against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals at State Farm Arena on July 03, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Pat Connaughton #24 of the Milwaukee Bucks dunks against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals at State Farm Arena on July 03, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Image credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

 TNT and Fox News continued their domination of the cable ratings charts into July, extending their respective streaks on the primetime and total day charts.

TNT topped the primetime ratings charts for the period of June 28 to July 4 to secure its sixth straight win in the category. The network, on the strength of its NBA Western Conference Finals coverage, averaged 2.2 million viewers for the week to beat out Fox News, which averaged 2.1 million viewers for the week, according to Nielsen.

ESPN, fueled by its NBA Eastern Conference Finals coverage, finished third with 1.5 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s 1.4 million and HGTV’s 1.1 million watchers. CNN (982,000 viewers), History (797,000), INSP (781,000), TBS (728,000) and Food Network (714,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime.

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In total day, Fox News blew out the competition, averaging 1.2 million viewers to top all networks for the 20th consecutive week. MSNBC was a distant second with 851,000 viewers, followed by ESPN (799,000), CNN (683,000) and HGTV (620,000), 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.