Cable News Ratings Were Down Overall on Friday, But One Network Still Dominated

The cable news networks didn’t break any ratings records Friday – maybe it was fatigue from a long news week that kept viewers away, or maybe they were practicing to tune out Sunday’s lowest-rated Oscars telecast ever – but Fox News can still claim victory, as it was watched by more viewers than the competition, according to data from Nielsen.

Fox’s The Five was the most-watched show Friday for the second time last week, with 2.39 million total viewers, and 323,000 in the valuable demographic of viewers age 25-54. The Rachel Maddow Show was second in total viewers, with 2.26 million, and fifth in the demo, with 262,000. Hannity was third in both total viewers, with 2.25 million, and in the demo, with 289,000. An hour-long look-ahead at upcoming episodes of Tucker Carlson Originals, a new video podcast and documentary series on Fox’s streaming platform Fox Nation, was fourth in total viewers, with 2.18 million, and second in the demo, with 300,000. The Ingraham Angle was fifth in total viewers, with 1.84 million, and fourth in the demo, with 276,000.

Fox News won in total day, with an average 1.38 million total viewers, and 215,000 in the demo. MSNBC was second in total viewers, with 1.01 million, and third in the demo, with 129,000. CNN was third in total viewers, with 666,000, and 159,000 in the demo.

Fox also won in prime time, with 2.09 million total viewers, and 288,000 in the demo. MSNBC was second, with 1.6 million total viewers, and 196,000 in the demo. CNN was third, with 728,000 total viewers and 159,000 in the demo.

Fox and Friends was first in the early morning, with 1.18 million total viewers, and 204,000 in the demo. MSNBC’s Morning Joe was second, with 944,000 total viewers, and 128,000 in the demo. CNN’s New Day was third, with 462,000 total viewers – less than half of the total viewers for both MSNBC and Fox – and 100,000 in the demo.