Rebecca Takes On the Cable News, Week of February 12: Mixed Fortunes Across Cable News As Olympics Continue

Cable news had a pretty strange week this time around, with the Olympic competition eating away at ratings of some shows, while tradition cable news draws such as Robert Mueller's Russian indictments and the tragic shooting in Florida helping other shows make gains and hold steady. I'll break down how things went for the shows right here. Plus, Winners & Losers makes its return!

MSNBC:
MSNBC had a pretty strange week, but it was all in all a pretty positive one. The network regained first place in the primetime rankings after weeks in second. It also saw nice-sized gains for morning series Morning Joe, which rose nearly 10% while holding on to its 10th place ranking. Velshi & Ruhle also rose 2%, though it stayed in last. Deadline: White House fell a spot in the rankings, but gained about 7% in 18-19 ratings. The primetime lineup was more of a mixed bag. All In with Chris Hayes was the one MSNBC show in primetime to make gains, but it fell a spot and took last place in the 8 PM timeslot. The Rachel Maddow Show continued its domination, more or less holding steady in the ratings and easily holding first on the chart, with virtually no Fox News or CNN challenge this week. And at 10, The Last Word fell to sixth in the rankings, but otherwise had a good week. It became the #1 10 PM show again, and only fell about 1%. MSNBC isn't where they were when this year began, but things sure are looking good for them. Right now at least.

CNN: 
They stayed in last place in primetime this week, but this really was a great week for CNN. Their primetime lineup excelled, with Anderson Cooper 360 soaring 20% and back into the Top 5. CNN Tonight showed smaller gains, but was still up 4%. It fell a position in the chart, however, but for the first time in a very long time, it was competitive with Fox News' The Ingraham Angle, and only narrowly lost out to it. Their other shows excelled even more. Erin Burnett OutFront soared to its second-highest rating in the history of Rebecca Takes on the News, and it claimed the #4 spot. The 27% growth it showed, however, doesn't come close to the staggering 39% growth for The Lead. The Lead was a silent winner this week, soaring to a 0.19 average. And even with all that growth, it still couldn't crack the Top 10. At This Hour stayed steady at fourteenth, with a 0.14 average, up about 11%. And in dead last for CNN, Wolf held at 16th with a 0.13 average and a nearly 10% ratings bump. This is still way below anything the show did during its December highs, but it's about on par with its late November performance.

Fox News:
If February 12 was the week of anything, it was the week of Not Fox. This was a rough one for Fox News, with declines just about everywhere. The only exception to that is a glaring one. Shepard Smith Reporting went from bubbling outside the Top 10 to seventh place, with huge gains of 58%. Look anywhere else, and you'll see some big declines. The primetime lineup was hit hard, with The Ingraham Angle taking the hardest hit of all. It collapsed in the rankings and the ratings, with a 16% decline to a 0.22 average and a ninth place ranking after taking fourth place last week. Things will probably get better for it after the Olympics, but for now, things aren't looking too good for it. Meanwhile, Hannity also fell about 15%, and lost its title as #1 Fox News show, taking the cable news bronze. Tucker Carlson only fell about 8% this week, and because it held better than Hannity, it got rewarded with a silver. The networks signature morning show, Fox & Friends, took a 7% decline, and fell out of the Top 10. And to top off this hellish week for Fox News, it also lost to MSNBC in primetime, falling to second.

And now it's time for Winners & Losers...

Winner of the Week: Shepard Smith Reporting
With all of the doom and gloom above in regards to Fox News, it's strange to give one of their shows the title of Winner of the Week. However, Shepard Smith Reporting had a great week with a huge ratings increase and its best-ever finish in these rankings. These numbers aren't likely to remain, but as of right now, they sure are impressive. 

Loser of the Week: The Ingraham Angle
This show declined 16% and fell five spots in the rankings. Yikes. Enough said.

And now for more positive things, the official Rebecca Takes on the News chart for this week:

And, of course, the primetime network chart:
What did you think of this week's cable news developments? Who are your winners and losers this week? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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