Fox News Notches Big Ratings Success Friday, Locks Out the Competition
Fox News had a dominant ratings run on Friday, shutting out the competition in the top 12 most-watched shows on cable news in the valuable demographic of viewers age 25-54, and 12 of the 13 most-watched shows in total viewers, according to data from Nielsen.
While Fox sometimes locks in the top five most-watched in both total viewers in the demo, a shutout in the top 10 or more is rare. On Friday, Fox’s prime time lineup (Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Ingraham Angle), along with The Five, Gutfeld!, Special Report with Bret Baier, and Fox News Primetime, and Fox and Friends — regular high scorers in ratings — along with daytime shows including The Faulkner Focus, Outnumbered, America Reports, and America’s Newsroom, outranked MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show in A25-54 viewers. Carlson topped the charts with 451,000 A25-54 viewers; by comparison, Maddow came in 13th with 196,000 viewers in the demo.
Carlson was also first in total viewers, averaging 2.39 million. Maddow fared better among total viewers, landing in fourth place with 1.79 million, but MSNBC didn’t make another appearance in the ratings among total viewers until The Beat with Ari Melber grabbed the 14th most-watched slot, with 1.08 million.
In total day, Fox News averaged 1.32 million total viewers, and 251,000 in the demo. MSNBC was second in total viewers, with 880,000, and third in the demo, with 97,000. CNN was third in total viewers, averaging 580,000 in total day, and second in the demo, with 131,000.
Prime time also belonged to Fox News, with an average 2.01 million total viewers and 370,000 in the demo. MSNBC was second in total viewers, with 1.31 million, and third in the demo, with 137,000. CNN was third, with 683,000 total viewers, and second in the demo, with 150,000.
Fox and Friends started the day strong for Fox, with 1.14 million total viewers and 212,000 in the demo. MSNBC’s Morning Joe was second in total viewers, with 854,000, and third in the demo, with 88,000. CNN’s New Day was third in total viewers, with 430,000, and second in the demo, with 99,000.
