Fox News’ Special Report Scores in the Demo, Displacing a Prime Time Mainstay from the Top 5

Regular anchor Bret Baier wasn’t in the chair, but it was still a big night for Fox News’ Special Report, which managed to crack the top five Wednesday in the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demo.

According to data from Nielsen, the 6 p.m. news hour, helmed Wednesday by Trace Gallagher, brought in 1.79 million overall viewers and 235,000 in the key demo. That latter number was good enough for fifth place among all cable news programs.

The top five placing of Special Report came at the expense of the substitute hosted Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. With Ali Velshi occupying the pilot’s seat in place of the eponymous 9pm host, MSNBC pulled in 231,000 in the demo — edging out Gutfeld! and Cuomo Prime Time for sixth.

The rest of the top five was a Fox News sweep — with Tucker Carlson continuing his dominance in the top spot (2.88 million overall, 454,000 demo), followed by Sean Hannity in second (2.4 million, 380,000), Laura Ingraham (1.93 million, 322,000) and The Five (2.68 million, 299,000).

The success of the top five helped power Fox News to a decisive win in the total day numbers — with the network averaging 1.42 million viewers overall and 213,000 adults 25-54. MSNBC held its own in total day with 1.03 million total viewers and 133,000 in the demo. CNN brought up the rear in both categories — averaging 634,000 overall and 124,000 in the demo. Not a single CNN program cracked the top 20 in total ratings on Wednesday — with Cuomo Prime Time coming the closest. Its total of 908,000 overall viewers was good for 24th in cable news on Wednesday.