Prime Time Cable News Ratings August 31-September 3: CNN Falls Behind FOX News and MSNBC


Below is a chart of the key ratings for prime time cable news shows this week. The key demographic to pay attention to is A25-54. 




Network
Day
A25-54
A18-49
A18-34
Total viewers
Tucker Carlson Tonight
FOX News
Thursday
0.79
0.50
0.19
4.779
Tucker Carlson Tonight
FOX News
Tuesday
0.77
0.48
0.25
4.907
Tucker Carlson Tonight
FOX News
Monday
0.74
0.45
0.25
4.932
Hannity
FOX News
Tuesday
0.74
0.41
0.24
4.837
Tucker Carlson Tonight
FOX News
Wednesday
0.72
0.43
0.18
4.793
Hannity
FOX News
Wednesday
0.65
0.39
0.19
4.652
Hannity
FOX News
Monday
0.65
0.35
0.14
4.474
The Ingraham  Angle
FOX News
Tuesday
0.62
0.36
0.21
3.821
The Ingraham  Angle
FOX News
Monday
0.62
0.35
0.16
4.153
The Ingraham  Angle
FOX News
Wednesday
0.59
0.37
0.15
3.579
Hannity
FOX News
Thursday
0.58
0.36
0.16
4.158
Rachel Maddow Show
MSNBC
Tuesday
0.52
0.31
0.14
3.864
Rachel Maddow Show
MSNBC
Wednesday
0.50
0.30
0.12
3.495
The Story with Martha MacCallum
FOX News
Thursday
0.48
0.28
0.10
3.233
Rachel Maddow Show
MSNBC
Monday
0.48
0.27
0.11
3.311
The Ingraham  Angle
FOX News
Thursday
0.47
0.28
0.17
3.285
Rachel Maddow Show
MSNBC
Thursday
0.46
0.28
0.09
3.743
The Story with Martha MacCallum
FOX News
Tuesday
0.40
0.22
0.09
2.649
Cuomo Prime Time
CNN
Wednesday
0.38
0.25
0.13
1.794
CNN Tonight (10pm)
CNN
Monday
0.38
0.23
0.15
1.508
The Story with Martha MacCallum
FOX News
Wednesday
0.37
0.21
0.08
2.402
CNN Tonight (10pm)
CNN
Wednesday
0.34
0.24
0.12
1.375
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
MSNBC
Tuesday
0.34
0.19
0.07
2.810
Cuomo Prime Time
CNN
Monday
0.33
0.20
0.08
1.681
The Story with Martha MacCallum
FOX News
Monday
0.33
0.19
0.09
2.512
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
MSNBC
Wednesday
0.32
0.19
0.09
2.462
All In with Chris Hayes
MSNBC
Monday
0.32
0.17
0.07
2.146
The ReidOut
MSNBC
Monday
0.30
0.16
0.09
1.855
CNN Tonight (10pm)
CNN
Thursday
0.29
0.19
0.08
1.279
The ReidOut
MSNBC
Wednesday
0.29
0.17
0.10
1.958
Cuomo Prime Time
CNN
Tuesday
0.29
0.17
0.07
1.547
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
MSNBC
Thursday
0.29
0.16
0.05
2.697
All In with Chris Hayes
MSNBC
Wednesday
0.29
0.15
0.06
2.178
Anderson Cooper 360
CNN
Wednesday
0.28
0.17
0.10
1.408
All In with Chris Hayes
MSNBC
Tuesday
0.27
0.16
0.09
2.019
Anderson Cooper 360
CNN
Monday
0.26
0.17
0.09
1.440
All In with Chris Hayes
MSNBC
Thursday
0.26
0.16
0.09
1.940
The ReidOut
MSNBC
Thursday
0.26
0.16
0.09
1.863
CNN Tonight (10pm)
CNN
Tuesday
0.26
0.15
0.06
1.350
Erin Burnett OutFront
CNN
Monday
0.25
0.18
0.10
1.173
Erin Burnett OutFront
CNN
Wednesday
0.25
0.16
0.09
1.236
The ReidOut
MSNBC
Tuesday
0.25
0.14
0.08
1.730
Anderson Cooper 360
CNN
Tuesday
0.25
0.14
0.07
1.296
Erin Burnett OutFront
CNN
Thursday
0.23
0.15
0.06
1.088
Anderson Cooper 360
CNN
Thursday
0.23
0.14
0.06
1.270
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
MSNBC
Monday
0.15
2.356
Cuomo Prime Time
CNN
Thursday
0.13
1.339
Erin Burnett OutFront
CNN
Tuesday
0.13
1.158
NewsNation
WGN America
Tuesday
0.03
0.198
NewsNation
WGN America
Wednesday
≤0.02
NewsNation
WGN America
Thursday
≤0.02


As usual, this week’s prime time cable news ratings were primarily dominated by FOX News. Tucker Carlson Tonight continues to be one of the highest-rated shows on cable television, oftentimes competing with the NBA playoffs in the ratings. FOX News’ Hannity, The Ingraham Angle, and even the 7pm show The Story, all give the network strong ratings. The Ingraham Angle featured an interview with President Trump on Monday night to ratings no better than its Hannity lead-in in most demographics, but still stronger than its time slot competition. 

Rachel Maddow Show looked especially strong this week, not only by MSNBC’s standards but also overall. Once again, it is easily the strongest non-FOX News show, and is able to compete against The Story and, sometimes, The Ingraham Angle. Elsewhere on MSNBC, The ReidOut, All In with Chris Hayes, and Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell continue to lag behind Rachel Maddow Show. Still, all three of those shows were highly competitive this week. It was not long ago when they were consistently at the bottom of the chart every week. Alongside the ill-fated CNN Global Town Halls, that is. 

MSNBC is typically the #3 cable news network, so the fact it out-rated CNN this week in the key A25-54 demographic speaks volumes about the latter network. Thursday marked one of the first time this summer that Cuomo Prime Time failed be one of the top 50 shows on cable television in the A18-49 demographic. Its 0.13 rating in A18-49 tied for last place among CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, coming in #57 overall. Quite frankly, that’s abysmal. There were also occasions when Anderson Cooper 360 just barely made the top 50. This is not a good look for the network that dominated just two weeks ago for their coverage of the DNC. There were some semi-bright spots for CNN this week, like the Monday and Wednesday airings of Cuomo Prime Time and the Don Lemon-hosted CNN Tonight. Still, those airings were not all that ahead of All In and Last Word on MSNBC. Simply put, CNN needs to hope for a better week next week. At this point, they are losing ground to MSNBC. They have the Presidential election coverage to look forward to in two months, but it is very possible MSNBC is gaining momentum ahead of the event. 

WGN America launched their three-hour news cast NewsNation at 8pm Eastern Time on Tuesday. The coverage, which they are advertising as being unbiased, premiered in 149th place on cable television on Tuesday in the A18-49 demographic, and failed to place in the top 150 on Wednesday and Thursday. A lack of awareness and/or a desire to hear more opinionated coverage is likely the cause for its low ratings. After this week, NewsNation’s ratings will only be reported if/when they place in the top 150 on cable. 

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