Tucker Carlson Dominates in July Cable News Ratings, While Fox News Continues at No. 1

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Fox News continued to cement its place as the top rated network in cable news throughout the month of July, with Tucker Carlson dominating the competition as the most-watched host.

Tucker Carlson Tonight was the most-watched show overall, with an average of 3.02 million viewers and 520,000 in the 25-54 viewer demographic. Hannity came in second overall with 2.7 million viewers and 422,000 in the demo. The Five took third place with 2.53 million total viewers and 359,000 in the demo.

The Rachel Maddow Show came in fourth overall with 2.3 million total viewers (302,000 in the demo). The Ingraham Angle came in fifth with 2.07 million total viewers (347,000 in the demo).

In total day, Fox came in first with 1.19 million total viewers and 201,000 in the demo. MSNBC came in second overall with 772,000 total viewers, and third in the demo with 104,000. CNN was third overall with 596,000 total viewers, but second in the demo with 127,000.

Fox similarly dominated in primetime, with 2.12 million viewers (333,000 in the demo) to MSNBC’s 1.31 million (168,000) and CNN’s 856,000 (190,000).

Fourteen of the top 17 programs in the demo belonged to Fox — a group which comprises their entire daily lineup save for Fox News at Night, which airs at 12 a.m. The Rachel Maddow Show was MSNBC’s only show to place in that group, while only Anderson Cooper 360 (12th) and Cuomo Prime Time (14th) ranked in that top tier for CNN.

With Fox News easily leading the pack, CNN and MSNBC touted wins over each other in different respects. MSNBC celebrated beating CNN in total viewers throughout the month of July — 772,000 to 596,000. MSNBC also finished as the No. 2 cable network for the month behind only Fox, beating out HGTV and CNN, which came in 4th. Every single hour of MSNBC programming bested its timeslot counterpart on CNN in overall viewers. In fact, no CNN program on the entire schedule topped 1 million total viewers. Cuomo Prime Time came the closest to that mark with 985,000.

CNN, though, turned the tables on its rival in the advertiser-coveted key demo — posting a win over MSNBC in that category in all dayparts by a margin of 127,000 to 104,000. Apart from New Day, which was edged out in the demo by Morning Joe, every show in the CNN lineup beat or tied its timeslot competition on MSNBC in that category. Among the standout performers was The Lead with Jake Tapper, which has opened up daylight on its 4-6 p.m. opponent Deadline: White House — beating them by 12 percent in the demo during its first hour, and 21 percent in its second.