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Fox News again topped the February ratings, while MSNBC saw double digit growth in total day and primetime.
The networks have had a mixed ratings picture so far during the election year, a time that has typically seen a large viewer uptick. But the dominance of Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the race for their parties’ nominations has likely had an impact, more than anything, on viewer interest, with much less suspense on the outcome.
That said, MSNBC did show gains. In primetime, the network averaged 1.35 million viewers, up 15% from the same period a year earlier. Fox News was still well ahead of its rivals with an average of 2.07 million, but that was down 9%. CNN posted 573,000, down 2%.
In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 231,000, down 23%, while MSNBC posted 122,000, up 3%, and CNN was at 116,000, down 5%.
In total day, Fox News averaged 1.34 million, down 7%, while MSNBC was at 852,000, up 20%, and CNN posted 479,000, up 1%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 161,000, down 15%, while CNN posted 87,000, down 2% and MSNBC was at 84,000, up 5%.
The figures are from Nielsen via Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.
Fox News’ The Five was the most watched cable news show, averaging 3.11 million viewers, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime with 2.81 million, Hannity with 2.36 million, The Ingraham Angle at 2.29 million and Special Report with Bret Baier with 2.29 million.
Gutfeld! topped in the adults 25-54 demo with an average of 325,000, followed by The Five with 283,000, Jesse Watters Primetime at 269,000, Hannity with 248,000 and The Ingraham Angle at 222,000. Gutfeld! has been one of the network’s most successful launches, having started as a weeknight late-night show in 2021. Fox News has since moved it to primetime in the 10 p.m. ET slot.
Although CNN has trailed in the numbers, it did see promise with the debut during the month of its Sunday evening limited series United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper, which debuted just as the network revitalizes its CNN Originals unit. The third episode of the show, which spotlights notorious political figures embroiled in scandal, topped the demo in its Sunday slot, drawing 152,000 viewers in the 25-54 age group, compared to 107,000 for Fox News and 31,000 for MSNBC. The show averaged 732,000 total viewers, compared to 378,000 for MSNBC.
MSNBC’s top show was The Rachel Maddow Show, which averaged 2.6 million viewers in its Monday night slot. CNN’s top show was Erin Burnett Outfront, with an average of 743,000.
NewsNation, meanwhile, has been pointing to its audience growth, albeit it still trails the other news networks. It averaged 111,000 in primetime, up 12% from February, 2023. It averaged 18,000 in the 25-54 demo, up 6%. Its top rated show is Cuomo, which averaged 200,000.
Newsmax averaged 260,000 viewers in primetime and 18,000 in the demo. Its top rated show was Rob Schmitt Tonight, averaging 456,000 viewers.
