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.