Fox News Beats All of Cable and Network News in Prime Time For Third Quarter, CNN and MSNBC Battle It Out
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Fox News beat all cable news network rivals with its prime time and daytime coverage during the 2020 Third Quarter — while CNN beat MSNBC in the 25-54 age demo.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News pulled in 3,507,000 total viewers on average in the Q3 prime time, up 44 percent from the same quarter last year and, and 595,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demo.
Fox made cable news history by being the only network to beat all broadcast networks — ABC, NBC and CBS — in weekday prime time for the entire quarter, while Fox Business also experienced its highest ever Q3 ratings.
MSNBC came in second with 2,122,000 total viewers on average, up 39 percent from Q3 2019, and 326,000 in the 25-54 demo.
Though CNN came behind MSNBC with 1,526,000 total viewers on average, up 47 percent, it beat the network in the 25-54 age demo with an impressive 392,000.
The order was mirrored in the Q3 total day ratings.
Fox News, at number one, raked in 1,751,000 total viewers on average, with 302,000 in the 25-54 demo, followed by MSNBC (1,207,000 total viewers, 181,000 in the demo), and CNN (971,000 total viewers, 239,000 in the demo), which again beat MSNBC in the younger demographic.
Fox News continued to dominate the most-viewed shows list, with 9 p.m. Hannity at 4,454,000 viewers, 8 p.m. Tucker Carlson Tonight at 4,351,000, 5 p.m. The Five at 3,483,000, and 10 p.m. The Ingraham Angle at 3,430,000.
MSNBC’s 9 p.m. favorite The Rachel Maddow Show was the fifth most-watched cable news show with 3,302,000 viewers.
Tucker Carlson beat Hannity in the 25-54 age demo with 781,000 viewers against 775,000, however, cementing his show’s position as the most-watched cable news program for the younger demographic in Q3.
The Ingraham Angle was third with 624,000 viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, followed by The Five (527,000) and The Rachel Maddow Show (504,000).
Fox News’ big quarter came on the heels of its record-breaking summer, during which the network pulled in an average of 3.5 million total primetime viewers between May and August.
