Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Upends Fox News in Primetime

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NBA Playoffs coverage gives TNT, ESPN a boost

Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets in a first-round 2022 NBA Playoffs game
First-round NBA Playoffs games lifted ratings fortunes for both TNT and ESPN. (Image credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

TNT outdueled Fox News Channel for first place on the primetime basic-cable ratings charts for the last full week of April, according to Nielsen.

TNT, benefiting from coverage of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, averaged 2.6 million viewers for the week of April 18-24 to end Fox News’s three-week winning streak. The cable-news channel finished second with 2.2 million viewers, followed by ESPN’s 1.3 million viewers and MSNBC’s 1.1 million watchers. 

HGTV finished fifth with 1 million viewers, followed by TLC (895,000 viewers); Hallmark Channel (874,000); Discovery Channel and History (tied with 804,000); and INSP (796,000).

On a total-day basis, Fox News finished first for the 16th consecutive week, averaging 1.4 million viewers, followed by TNT (915,000), MSNBC (670,000) HGTV (561,000) and ESPN (557,000), Nielsen reported. ■

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.