CNN Keeps Ratings Momentum, Wins Viewers in 25-54 Demo Across Thursday Daytime, Primetime

CNN continued its ratings momentum on Wednesday, fueling a streak of viewership victories across all dayparts that the network hasn’t enjoyed in nearly 20 years.

As the George Floyd protests and nationwide unrest rolls into its second week, CNN’s breaking news coverage has been buoyed by viewers flocking to see live news coverage. According to Nielsen Media Research, CNN placed first with 475,000 daytime viewers in the demo and 837,000 in the demo in primetime. Impressive numbers, to be sure, but a distinct drop from the massive ratings during the earlier parts of the week. Fox News’ daytime ratings in the demo came in a distant second with 278,000, beating out MSNBC’s 245,000. In primetime, Fox News made the ratings race much closer, posting 760,000 A25 – 54 viewers, while MSNBC came in far behind with 426,000.

Thursday’s ratings for CNN in primetime showed a roughly 10 to 20 percent dip from Wednesday. Cuomo Prime Time took the cable news nightly title with 908,000 viewers in the demo, beating Fox News’ Hannity by 113,000 viewers. Cuomo’s 10:00 p.m. successor, Don Lemon Tonight, also won its time-slot with 832,000 viewers, defeating The Ingraham Angle‘s 711,000. At 8:00 p.m., however, CNN lost its recent primetime sweep, as Anderson Cooper 360 was edged out by Tucker Carlson Tonight, 769,000 to 773,000, respectively.

In overall audience, the daytime cable news race was extremely competitive, with just 147,000 viewers separating first-place Fox News (1.68 million) from third-place MSNBC (1.53 million). CNN barely eked out runner-up status with 1.54 million. Primetime was another matter, however, as Fox News handily swept 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. with Hannity taking total viewers honors with 4.45 million. Tucker Carlson was close behind his 9:00 p.m. handoff partner, coming in at 4.32 million. Ingraham came in at third place with 3.70 million overall viewers.

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