Cable News Ratings Thursday, December 9: Bret Baier’s Jussie Smollett Coverage Tops the Charts

Mediaite StaffDec 10th, 2021, 6:16 pm
 

Special Report with Bret Baier was the most-watched show on cable news on Thursday with 3.61 million total viewers. Baier, whose news show regularly lands in fourth or fifth place in the ratings, surged to the top spot as the verdict in the Jussie Smollett trial attracted viewers.

Baier’s time slot competition, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and MSNBC’s Ari Melber, only attracted 882,000 and 1.25 million viewers — respectively.

Brian Williams’ final broadcast of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour brought in 1.61 million total viewers, a solid boost for the late-night program. However, it wasn’t enough to eclipse Greg Gutfeld’s 11 p.m. satire show Gutfeld!, which brought in 1.86 million viewers. CNN’s Don Lemon came in third place at 11 p.m. with only 367,000 total viewers.

Here is a full breakdown of Thursday’s cable news ratings by show:

Total Viewers (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1042		 NEW DAY:
291		 MORNING JOE:
743		 DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY:
10		 MURDER, SHE WROTE:
32
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1418		 NEW DAY:
402		 — WAKE UP AMERICA:
107		 MORNING IN AMERICA:
20
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
1791		 NEW DAY:
453		 — — —
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
1673		 CNN NEWSROOM:
509		 STEPHANIE RUHLE REPORTS:
653		 NATIONAL REPORT:
123		 —
10a SR/B.DOLE CASKET ARRIVES:
1443		 CNN NEWSROOM:
537		 — — JAG:
103
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
1398		 AT THIS HOUR:
516		 CRAIG MELVIN REPORTS:
535		 — JAG:
142
12p OUTNUMBERED:
1685		 INSIDE POLITICS:
563		 ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
568		 JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
97		 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
152
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
1549		 CNN NEWSROOM:
595		 MTP DAILY:
546		 — IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
181
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
1436		 CNN NEWSROOM:
589		 KATY TUR REPORTS:
714		 AMERICAN AGENDA:
148		 BLUE BLOODS:
211
3p STORY, THE:
1475		 CNN NEWSROOM:
588		 HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS:
690		 — BLUE BLOODS:
256
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
1535		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
660		 DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
1258		 ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
183		 BLUE BLOODS:
399
5p FIVE, THE:
3591		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
728		 — CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
214		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
200
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
3615		 SITUATION ROOM:
882		 BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
1256		 SPICER & CO:
344		 DONLON REPORT, THE:
85
7p FOX NEWS PRIMETIME:
2739		 ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
715		 REIDOUT:
1118		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
475		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
43
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
3380		 ANDERSON COOPER 360:
744		 ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES:
1195		 STINCHFIELD:
224		 DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
53
9p HANNITY:
2848		 CNN TONIGHT:
598		 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW:
2051		 CORTES & PELLEGRINO:
157		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
34
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
2294		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
599		 LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
1418		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
141		 BANFIELD:
26
11p GUTFELD!:
1868		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
367		 11TH HOUR W/B. WILLIAMS:
1616		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
95		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
21

25-54 Demo (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
196		 NEW DAY:
48		 MORNING JOE:
80		 DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY:
0		 MURDER, SHE WROTE:
17
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
251		 NEW DAY:
70		 — WAKE UP AMERICA:
12		 MORNING IN AMERICA:
6
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
293		 NEW DAY:
93		 — — —
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
299		 CNN NEWSROOM:
100		 STEPHANIE RUHLE REPORTS:
60		 NATIONAL REPORT:
23		 —
10a SR/B.DOLE CASKET ARRIVES:
203		 CNN NEWSROOM:
118		 — — JAG:
7
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
205		 AT THIS HOUR:
96		 CRAIG MELVIN REPORTS:
25		 — JAG:
6
12p OUTNUMBERED:
261		 INSIDE POLITICS:
94		 ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
47		 JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
31		 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
19
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
276		 CNN NEWSROOM:
113		 MTP DAILY:
45		 — IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
13
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
230		 CNN NEWSROOM:
110		 KATY TUR REPORTS:
69		 AMERICAN AGENDA:
31		 BLUE BLOODS:
29
3p STORY, THE:
224		 CNN NEWSROOM:
125		 HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS:
62		 — BLUE BLOODS:
31
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
216		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
141		 DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
103		 ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
34		 BLUE BLOODS:
44
5p FIVE, THE:
496		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
127		 — CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
25		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
21
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
483		 SITUATION ROOM:
194		 BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
146		 SPICER & CO:
36		 DONLON REPORT, THE:
15
7p FOX NEWS PRIMETIME:
450		 ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
181		 REIDOUT:
170		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
61		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
13
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
606		 ANDERSON COOPER 360:
183		 ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES:
146		 STINCHFIELD:
49		 DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
19
9p HANNITY:
496		 CNN TONIGHT:
139		 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW:
254		 CORTES & PELLEGRINO:
46		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
14
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
347		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
117		 LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
161		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
29		 BANFIELD:
5
11p GUTFELD!:
335		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
62		 11TH HOUR W/B. WILLIAMS:
182		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
7		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
1

As for the three cable news networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 category.

Total viewers:

CNN: 533,000

Fox: 1.85 million

MSNBC: 920,00

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 110,000

Fox News: 301,000

MSNBC: 100,000

Here are the prime time averages— encompassing shows which air from 8-11 p.m. — in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

Total viewers:

CNN: 647,000

Fox News: 2.93 million

MSNBC: 1.53 million

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 146000

Fox News: 509,000

MSNBC: 176,000

For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.

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