Cable News Ratings Thursday February 24: Fox News Still Dominates, But CNN and MSNBC Surge Amid Coverage of Ukraine Invasion

Mediaite StaffFeb 25th, 2022, 4:51 pm
 

Fox News dominated the cable news ratings on Thursday in spectacular fashion, despite an impressive surge in viewers for CNN and MSNBC.

Fox scored three shows over 1 million viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. The Five achieved a rarely-seen feat, raking in over 5 million total average viewers – winning the day both in terms of overall viewers and in the demo.

Jesse Watters, Tucker Carlson, and Sean Hannity all raked in over 4 million viewers, with Carlson leading the pack for a second-place finish for the day.

CNN, meanwhile, scored three shows over 2 million total average viewers as Newsroom from 12 to 2 p.m. led the network.

MSNBC’s prime time lineup outperformed CNN’s averaging a total 2.22 million viewers across its programming compared to CNN’s 1.88 million average viewers.

Notably, CNN and MSNBC combined beat Fox News in terms of overall viewers and in the demo in both day time and prime time.

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:
1532		 NEW DAY:
590		 MORNING JOE:
1155		 UKRAINE BREAKING NEWS:
43		 ELEMENTARY:
23
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
2107		 NEW DAY:
874		 — WAKE UP AMERICA:
113		 MORNING IN AMERICA:
35
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
2550		 NEW DAY:
1176		 — — —
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
2939		 CNN NEWSROOM:
1530		 MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE:
1150		 NATIONAL REPORT:
278		 —
10a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
2946		 CNN NEWSROOM:
1860		 JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS:
1021		 — IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
68
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
2982		 AT THIS HOUR:
2042		 CRAIG MELVIN REPORTS:
1079		 — IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
146
12p OUTNUMBERED:
3378		 CNN NEWSROOM:
2298		 ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
1289		 JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
293		 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
198
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
3844		 CNN NEWSROOM:
2710		 MTP DAILY:
1413		 — BLUE BLOODS:
111
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
3863		 CNN NEWSROOM:
2599		 — AMERICAN AGENDA:
278		 —
3p STORY, THE:
3267		 CNN NEWSROOM:
1986		 HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS:
1399		 — BLUE BLOODS:
313
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
3220		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
1940		 DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
1851		 ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
337		 BLUE BLOODS:
364
5p FIVE, THE:
5031		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
1910		 — CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
303		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
175
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
3827		 SITUATION ROOM:
1897		 BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
1619		 SPICER & CO:
322		 DONLON REPORT, THE:
82
7p JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME:
4209		 ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
1901		 REIDOUT:
1568		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
433		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
54
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
4692		 ANDERSON COOPER 360:
1961		 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW:
2134		 STINCHFIELD:
292		 DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
46
9p HANNITY:
4266		 CNN TONIGHT:
1870		 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW:
2544		 PRIME NEWS:
206		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
46
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
3252		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
1828		 LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
1992		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
179		 BANFIELD:
46
11p FOX NEWS AT NIGHT:
2345		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
1365		 MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE:
1423		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
167		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
25

25-54 Demo (thousands)

ET FNC CNN MSNBC NEWSMAX NEWSNATION
6a FOX AND FRIENDS:
360		 NEW DAY:
152		 MORNING JOE:
174		 UKRAINE BREAKING NEWS:
9		 ELEMENTARY:
1
7a FOX AND FRIENDS:
485		 NEW DAY:
232		 — WAKE UP AMERICA:
25		 MORNING IN AMERICA:
3
8a FOX AND FRIENDS:
491		 NEW DAY:
369		 — — —
9a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
602		 CNN NEWSROOM:
480		 MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE:
165		 NATIONAL REPORT:
49		 —
10a AMERICAS NEWSROOM:
643		 CNN NEWSROOM:
566		 JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS:
161		 — IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
8
11a FAULKNER FOCUS, THE:
676		 AT THIS HOUR:
617		 CRAIG MELVIN REPORTS:
170		 — IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
19
12p OUTNUMBERED:
804		 CNN NEWSROOM:
670		 ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS:
183		 JOHN BACHMAN NOW:
52		 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT:
16
1p AMERICA REPORTS:
921		 CNN NEWSROOM:
807		 MTP DAILY:
200		 — BLUE BLOODS:
9
2p AMERICA REPORTS:
905		 CNN NEWSROOM:
802		 — AMERICAN AGENDA:
62		 —
3p STORY, THE:
796		 CNN NEWSROOM:
661		 HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS:
232		 — BLUE BLOODS:
42
4p YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO:
772		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
579		 DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE:
281		 ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE:
60		 BLUE BLOODS:
44
5p FIVE, THE:
1135		 LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER:
632		 — CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE:
39		 NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR:
11
6p SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER:
877		 SITUATION ROOM:
667		 BEAT W/ARI MELBER:
217		 SPICER & CO:
46		 DONLON REPORT, THE:
4
7p JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME:
933		 ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT:
663		 REIDOUT:
280		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
63		 ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT:
3
8p TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT:
1100		 ANDERSON COOPER 360:
704		 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW:
409		 STINCHFIELD:
45		 DAN ABRAMS LIVE:
7
9p HANNITY:
1002		 CNN TONIGHT:
681		 RACHEL MADDOW SHOW:
420		 PRIME NEWS:
45		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
8
10p INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE:
866		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
751		 LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL:
348		 ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT:
42		 BANFIELD:
10
11p FOX NEWS AT NIGHT:
707		 DON LEMON TONIGHT:
562		 MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE:
310		 GREG KELLY REPORTS:
41		 NEWSNATION PRIME:
3

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

Total viewers:

CNN: 1.65 million

Fox: 3.04 million

MSNBC: 1.42 million

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 554,000

Fox News: 722,000

MSNBC: 238,000

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: 1.88 million

Fox News: 4.07 million

MSNBC: 2.22 million

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 712,000

Fox News: 989,000

MSNBC: 392,000

For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.

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