MSNBC’s Brian Williams Wins Thursday Ratings, First Hour of Morning Joe Ekes Out a Win Over Fox & Friends

Fox News, once again, beat out its rivals MSNBC and CNN in total day and prime time ratings. But MSNBC had a good Thursday, with some shows pulling off important wins.

The first hour of Morning Joe, MSNBC’s 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. morning show, nabbed a rare win over Fox & Friends, in a sign of strength for the program. For that hour Joe & Mika bagged 238,000 in the demo and 1.32 million total viewers, compared to Fox’s 230,000 demo and 1.2 million total.

By 7 a.m., Fox & Friends overtook Morning Joe, and in overall early morning ratings Fox News beat out MSNBC and CNN — with New Day coming third.

MSNBC’s 11th Hour with Brian Williams came first on Thursday night, meanwhile, beating out Shannon Bream at Fox News (his 325,000 in the demo and 1.77 million total handily beat her 269,000 demo and 1.63 million total). The second hour of CNN Tonight, hosted by Don Lemon, trailed behind with 240,000 in the demo and 810,000 in total viewers.

Overall, Fox News still crushed primetime, averaging 488,000 in the demo and 3.23 million overall. MSNBC came second with 428,000 in the demo and 2.52 overall, with CNN third at 333,000 in the demo and 1.22 total viewers.

Sean Hannity lead the pack with the top rated primetime show (with a whopping 546,000 in the demo, 3.52 million overall), trailed by second place Tucker Carlson, third place Rachel Maddow and fourth place Laura Ingraham.

Correction: This piece incorrectly referred to Hannity as a morning show. Hannity is, of course, a primetime show.