Jake Tapper Scores Thursday Ratings Victory in the Demo with Newsmaking Biden Interview; Fox Sweeps Total Day and Primetime Dayparts

CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper scored a Thursday ratings victory in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic thanks to the eponymous host’s news-making interview with Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden. Fox News, meanwhile, dominated total day and primetime in both overall as well A25 – 54 viewers.

Tapper’s challenging questions on trade — getting Biden to concede Trump’s USMCA was an improvement over NAFTA — made for a true media moment and was even inaccurately cited by President Donald Trump at his Michigan rally. In the demo, The Lead drew 323,000 viewers, outpacing its 4:00 p.m. competition: Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto attracted 292,000 and MSNBC’s Deadline: White House pulled in 272,000. The story changed in total viewers, though, with MSNBC winning the time slot with 2.25 million, followed by Fox News’ 2.07 million, and CNN trailing with 1.76 million.

In total day ratings, Fox News’s 389,000 viewers in the demo beat its rivals, who tied for runner-up with 238,000 A25 – 54 viewers each. Fox also won in overall viewers, posting an audience of 2.29 million from 6:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, besting MSNBC’s 1.78 million viewers and far outpacing CNN’s 1.08 million.

Fox News thoroughly trounced CNN and MSNBC in primetime, posting 665,000 viewers in the demo across all three hours, more than MSNBC’s 358,000 and CNN’s 284,000 A25 – 54 viewers combined. Leading Fox’s charge was Tucker Carlson Tonight, which was the most-watched show on cable news with 772,000 viewers in the demo and 4.40 million overall. In total viewers, Fox News topped four million as MSNBC came in second with 2.59 million and CNN far behind with 1.25 million.

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