CNN’s New Year’s Eve Special Dominates Fox News and MSNBC in the Ratings
CNN’s rowdy New Year’s Eve special in Times Square, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, was the most-watched event on cable news as America rang in 2022.
The show, as usual, generated plenty of highlights (and continues to deliver). At 12:30 a.m., Cooper and Cohen handed over to Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota, who continued the festivities from New Orleans.
CNN’s special, which started at 8 p.m., drew 2.12 million total viewers and 746,000 in the advertiser coveted 25-54 demo.
That demo number is nearly triple of what Fox News saw, and 16 times (!) what MSNBC drew.
Fox News programming from 8 p.m. to midnight averaged 1.76 million total viewers and 260,000 in the demo. The network broadcasted live from Nashville, featuring coverage from Greg Gutfeld, Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Duffy and Pete Hegseth.
Fox News began airing live New Year’s Eve coverage at 10 p.m. From 10 p.m. to midnight the network averaged 1.93 million viewers, coming a little closer to CNN’s audience (though its demo numbers remained far behind). Fox News still won the day and prime time in total viewers. For the 1 a.m. hour, Fox News pulled ahead of CNN in total viewers, though CNN held onto the demo.
MSNBC, which is not much of a destination for NYE viewing, drew just 476,000 total viewers and 45,000 in the demo.
Still, CNN’s numbers are down considerably from last year, when homebound viewers flocked to the network in droves. Its New Year’s Eve broadcast was the most-watched in history, with 3.36 million viewers.
(Cable news ratings continue to be delayed by Nielsen, thanks to the holiday. They will be back to normal schedule next week).
Here is a full breakdown of Friday’s cable news ratings by show:
Total Viewers (thousands)
| ET | FNC | CNN | MSNBC | NEWSMAX | NEWSNATION |
| 6a | FOX AND FRIENDS SPECIAL: 859 |
NEW DAY SPECIAL: 317 |
MORNING JOE-SPC: 397 |
CONVERSATIONS WITH NANCY: 23 |
MURDER, SHE WROTE: 36 |
| 7a | FOX AND FRIENDS SPECIAL: 1201 |
NEW DAY SPECIAL: 397 |
— | WAKE UP AMERICA: 66 |
MORNING IN AMERICA: 22 |
| 8a | FOX AND FRIENDS SPECIAL: 1503 |
NEW DAY SPECIAL: 469 |
— | — | — |
| 9a | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 1625 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 546 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 535 |
NATIONAL REPORT: 149 |
— |
| 10a | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 1605 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 673 |
— | — | JAG: 98 |
| 11a | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 1556 |
AT THIS HOUR SPCL: 699 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 475 |
— | JAG: 125 |
| 12p | OUTNUMBERED SPECIAL: 1732 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 701 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 565 |
JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 143 |
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 186 |
| 1p | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 1439 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 645 |
— | — | IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 250 |
| 2p | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 1281 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 715 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 610 |
AMERICAN AGENDA: 72 |
BLUE BLOODS: 244 |
| 3p | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 1214 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 757 |
— | — | BLUE BLOODS: 280 |
| 4p | YOUR WORLD W/CAVUTO SPCL: 1005 |
LEAD W/ JAKE TAPPER SPCL: 763 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 643 |
MIKE HUCKABEE?S CHRISTMAS: 53 |
BLUE BLOODS: 318 |
| 5p | FIVE, THE SPCL: 2228 |
SITUATION ROOM SPCL: 722 |
POLITICS NATION: 485 |
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 79 |
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 133 |
| 6p | SPCL RPT W/BRET BAIER SPC: 1561 |
SITUATION ROOM SPCL: 561 |
BEAT W/ ARI MELBER SPEC: 531 |
SPICER & CO: 123 |
DONLON REPORT, THE: 24 |
| 7p | FOX NATION: PATRIOT AWDS: 1216 |
CNN SPECIAL REPORT: 539 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 519 |
GREG KELLY REPORTS: 151 |
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 24 |
| 8p | WHO CAN FORGET? 2021: 1351 |
NEW YEARS EVE LIVE W/ AC: 2124 |
ALL IN W. C HAYES SPEC: 449 |
STINCHFIELD: 119 |
DAN ABRAMS LIVE: 10 |
| 9p | GUTFELD! NEW YEAR?S SPCL: 1849 |
— | RACHEL MADDOW SPECIAL: 617 |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 94 |
NEWSNATION PRIME: 28 |
| 10p | ALL AMERICAN NEW YEARS: 1820 |
— | LAST WORD W. LO SPEC: 524 |
NEW YEAR?S WITH NEWSMAX: 112 |
BANFIELD: 20 |
| 11p | ALL AMERICAN NEW YEARS: 2044 |
— | MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 314 |
— | ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 17 |
25-54 Demo (thousands)
| ET | FNC | CNN | MSNBC | NEWSMAX | NEWSNATION |
| 6a | FOX AND FRIENDS SPECIAL: 142 |
NEW DAY SPECIAL: 30 |
MORNING JOE-SPC: 44 |
CONVERSATIONS WITH NANCY: 1 |
MURDER, SHE WROTE: 9 |
| 7a | FOX AND FRIENDS SPECIAL: 190 |
NEW DAY SPECIAL: 62 |
— | WAKE UP AMERICA: 6 |
MORNING IN AMERICA: 5 |
| 8a | FOX AND FRIENDS SPECIAL: 238 |
NEW DAY SPECIAL: 65 |
— | — | — |
| 9a | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 263 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 89 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 55 |
NATIONAL REPORT: 16 |
— |
| 10a | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 258 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 110 |
— | — | JAG: 11 |
| 11a | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 202 |
AT THIS HOUR SPCL: 122 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 53 |
— | JAG: 12 |
| 12p | OUTNUMBERED SPECIAL: 207 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 152 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 55 |
JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 21 |
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 29 |
| 1p | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 202 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 173 |
— | — | IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 52 |
| 2p | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 201 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 180 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 55 |
AMERICAN AGENDA: 5 |
BLUE BLOODS: 40 |
| 3p | FOX NEWS LIVE SPECIAL: 165 |
CNN NEWSROOM SPCL: 192 |
— | — | BLUE BLOODS: 53 |
| 4p | YOUR WORLD W/CAVUTO SPCL: 131 |
LEAD W/ JAKE TAPPER SPCL: 147 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 61 |
MIKE HUCKABEE?S CHRISTMAS: 6 |
BLUE BLOODS: 61 |
| 5p | FIVE, THE SPCL: 269 |
SITUATION ROOM SPCL: 116 |
POLITICS NATION: 45 |
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 8 |
NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 28 |
| 6p | SPCL RPT W/BRET BAIER SPC: 215 |
SITUATION ROOM SPCL: 104 |
BEAT W/ ARI MELBER SPEC: 46 |
SPICER & CO: 7 |
DONLON REPORT, THE: 6 |
| 7p | FOX NATION: PATRIOT AWDS: 206 |
CNN SPECIAL REPORT: 136 |
MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 68 |
GREG KELLY REPORTS: 30 |
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 2 |
| 8p | WHO CAN FORGET? 2021: 172 |
NEW YEARS EVE LIVE W/ AC: 746 |
ALL IN W. C HAYES SPEC: 45 |
STINCHFIELD: 18 |
DAN ABRAMS LIVE: 0 |
| 9p | GUTFELD! NEW YEAR?S SPCL: 242 |
— | RACHEL MADDOW SPECIAL: 48 |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 15 |
NEWSNATION PRIME: 3 |
| 10p | ALL AMERICAN NEW YEARS: 260 |
— | LAST WORD W. LO SPEC: 53 |
NEW YEAR?S WITH NEWSMAX: 22 |
BANFIELD: 1 |
| 11p | ALL AMERICAN NEW YEARS: 364 |
— | MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 35 |
— | ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 3 |
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: 983,000
Fox: 1.45 million
MSNBC: 475,000
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 287,000
Fox News: 228,000
MSNBC: 48,000
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: 1.53 million
Fox News: 1.67 million
MSNBC: 530,000
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 746,000
Fox News: 225,000
MSNBC: 49,000
For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.
Correction: A previous version of this story wrongly claimed that CNN won prime time. While the network won from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. for its New Year’s special, Fox News still won prime time in total viewers (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.).