The Five Beats All of Cable News — Including Tucker and Hannity — in Friday Ratings Race

Fox News held the top two slots for the most-watched shows in cable news Friday, with both The Five and Tucker Carlson claiming victory.

The Five was the most-watched show of the day, with 2.41 million total viewers, and was second in the valuable demographic of viewers age 25-54, with 357,000, according to Nielsen data. Tucker Carlson Tonight was most-watched in the key demo, with 391,000, and was a very close second in total viewers, with nearly 2.4 million.

The rest of the top five most-watched cable news shows on Friday were also on Fox, with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow being the only exception. The Rachel Maddow Show was third in total viewers, with 2.13 million, and fourth in the demo, with 277,000. Hannity was fourth in total viewers, with 2.04 million, and third in the demo, with 282,000. Special Report with Bret Baier was fifth in total viewers, with 1.63 million (252,000 in the demo). The 7 a.m. hour of Fox and Friends was fifth in the demo for the day, with 262,000 A25-54 viewers (1.23 million total).

Viewership was down for all three cable news networks overall on Friday, as it normally is at the end of the work week, but current patterns still held: Fox was first in total day, with 1.35 million total viewers, and 224,000 in the demo. MSNBC was second in total viewers, with 997,000, and third in the demo, with 124,000. CNN was third in total viewers, with 573,000, and second in the demo, with 137,000.

Fox was also comfortably ahead of the competition in prime time, averaging 2.02 million total viewers, and 300,000 in the demo. MSNBC was second, with 1.62 million total viewers, and 208,000 in the demo. CNN was third, averaging 719,000 total viewers in prime time, and 137,000 in the demo.

In the early morning, Fox and Friends won with an average 1.17 million total viewers, and 230,000 in the demo. MSNBC’s Morning Joe was second, with 907,000 total viewers, and 119,000 in the demo. CNN’s New Day averaged 433,000 total viewers, and 94,000 in the demo.