MSNBC Leads Cable News in Primetime Ratings Friday; Fox News Tops Total Day Viewership

Ahead of a three-day holiday weekend, MSNBC ended up at the top of the cable news heap when it came to primetime viewership while Fox News led the way for the entire day.

According to Nielsen, MSNBC averaged 2.56 million total viewers during the primetime block on Friday. The network also topped the time period in the key 25-54 demographic, pulling in 555,000 viewers. Fox News was a close 2nd in overall audience (2.44 million) while nabbing 401,000 in the demo. CNN was third in total viewers (1.09 million) and finished in a virtual tie for 2nd place in the demo (401,000).

In total day viewership, Fox News came out on top in both overall audience and the demo, as the channel averaged 1.53 million total viewers and 309,000 in the demographic. MSNBC finished second in both metrics, pulling in 1.35 million viewers overall and 298,000 in the key demo. CNN attracted 866,000 total viewers and 289,000 in the 25-54 demo.

MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show was the most-watched show in all of basic cable on Friday as it averaged 3.37 million viewers. It finished fifth in cable in the key demo (721,000). Both numbers topped cable news. Fox News’ Hannity and Tucker Carlson Tonight finished second (2.55 million) and third (2.43 million), respectively, in total viewers. Tucker Carlson Tonight topped all Fox programming in the key demo (456,000).

CNN’s top show of the day in terms of total viewers was The Lead with Jake Tapper, which averaged 1.23 million viewers. In the key demo, CNN’s top program on Friday was Erin Burnett OutFront at 432,000.

For the week, MSNBC led primetime in the key 25-54 demo (557,000) while finishing a close second to Fox News in total viewership (2.56 million to Fox’s 2.57 million). The Rachel Maddow Show led all of cable news for the week in overall audience and demographic viewers.

[image via Fox News/MSNBC/CNN]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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