CNN Wins Every Hour From 9AM to Midnight in Tuesday Ratings Demo, Except One — Tucker Carlson Takes Top Spot on Cable

CNN won every hour of cable news from 9:00 a.m. to Midnight on Tuesday except one, as the network swept to victories in both total day and primetime in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic. But Tucker Carlson Tonight broke that network’s day-long stranglehold to claim victory in both its 8:00 p.m. timeslot as well as all of cable news.

According to Nielsen Media Research, CNN topped cable news ratings with 408,000 viewers in the demo from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., outscoring Fox’s 345,000 total day viewers and MSNBC’s 288,000 in the demo. CNN’s resounding victory was powered by an impressive streak of 12 out of 13 hours of ratings wins in the demo, stretching from the start of daytime programming and into late-night. In primetime on Tuesday, CNN edged out Fox News 662,000 to 645,000 in the demo, with MSNBC trailing behind with 496,000.

CNN’s hourly ratings wins peaked at 9:00 p.m. with Cuomo Prime

Time, which pulled in 710,000 A25 – 54 viewers, beating out Hannity’s 635,000 mark and The Rachel Maddow Show‘s 527,000. (TRMS has had fill-in hosts the past two weeks since Maddow has been off air and in self-quarantine due to Covid-19 exposure.) CNN Tonight with Don Lemon also claimed a strong primetime victory, with its 561,000 A25 – 54 audience topping The Ingraham Angle‘s 555,000 and Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell‘s 436,000. Anderson Cooper 360 was CNN’s top performer in the demo on Tuesday with 715,000 viewers, but that still fell short of its timeslot rival, Carlson, which took first in cable news on Tuesday with 745,000 A25 – 54 viewers. All In with Chris Hayes came in third with 524,000 viewers in the demo at 8:00 p.m.

Fox News, however, remained the most-watched cable news channel across all of Tuesday, attracting 1.87 million total viewers from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. and 3.58 million in primetime. Hannity led the way, ranking first in cable news on Tuesday with 3.66 million total viewers, beating out TRMS’ 3.03 million and Cuomo Prime Time‘s 2.634 million mark. MSNBC landed in second, just shy of Fox with 1.82 million in total day, but was further behind in primetime with 1.82 million. CNN came in third

with 1.62 million overall viewers across total day and 2.4 million viewers in primetime.