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| CNN |
Below is a table containing the prime time ratings of FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC. A25-54 is the main demographic of interest. See below for a discussion on the ratings and latest outlook on the Presidential election.
Network | Day | A25-54 | A18-49 | A18-34 | Total viewers | |
VP Debate (9:03pm) | FOX News | Wednesday | 2.56 | 1.86 | 1.14 | 11.898 |
Vice Presidential Debate (9:04pm) | CNN | Wednesday | 2.42 | 1.91 | 1.27 | 7.705 |
Debate (9:03pm) | MSNBC | Wednesday | 1.22 | 0.86 | 0.46 | 6.918 |
Hannity (11pm) | FOX News | Wednesday | 1.12 | 0.78 | 0.44 | 5.276 |
Debate Night In America (8pm) | CNN | Wednesday | 1.03 | 0.77 | 0.43 | 3.738 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Wednesday | 1.00 | 0.67 | 0.35 | 6.122 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.78 | 0.47 | 0.22 | 5.297 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Monday | 0.76 | 0.48 | 0.24 | 4.920 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Thursday | 0.72 | 0.45 | 0.17 | 4.850 |
Hannity | FOX News | Thursday | 0.71 | 0.40 | 0.13 | 4.959 |
Hannity | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.68 | 0.41 | 0.16 | 4.748 |
MSNBC Debate Preview (8pm) | MSNBC | Wednesday | 0.64 | 0.44 | 0.22 | 4.339 |
Cuomo Prime Time | CNN | Monday | 0.63 | 0.40 | 0.19 | 2.840 |
The Ingraham Angle (12am) | FOX News | Wednesday | 0.61 | 0.39 | 0.19 | 3.136 |
Erin Burnett OutFront | CNN | Wednesday | 0.60 | 0.42 | 0.23 | 2.299 |
Cuomo Prime Time | CNN | Tuesday | 0.60 | 0.41 | 0.16 | 2.612 |
Hannity | FOX News | Monday | 0.57 | 0.34 | 0.16 | 4.271 |
The Ingraham Angle | FOX News | Thursday | 0.57 | 0.34 | 0.16 | 3.648 |
Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | Tuesday | 0.56 | 0.37 | 0.17 | 2.510 |
The Ingraham Angle | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.56 | 0.32 | 0.16 | 3.805 |
Erin Burnett OutFront | CNN | Monday | 0.55 | 0.41 | 0.27 | 2.531 |
Rachel Maddow Show | MSNBC | Thursday | 0.54 | 0.33 | 0.11 | 3.909 |
Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | Monday | 0.53 | 0.39 | 0.22 | 2.361 |
CNN Tonight (10pm) | CNN | Tuesday | 0.53 | 0.34 | 0.09 | 2.125 |
The Ingraham Angle | FOX News | Monday | 0.53 | 0.33 | 0.14 | 3.582 |
Rachel Maddow Show | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.53 | 0.31 | 0.11 | 4.117 |
CNN Tonight (10pm) | CNN | Monday | 0.52 | 0.36 | 0.17 | 2.283 |
The Story with Martha MacCallum | FOX News | Monday | 0.52 | 0.35 | 0.16 | 3.556 |
Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | Thursday | 0.50 | 0.33 | 0.18 | 2.618 |
Cuomo Prime Time | CNN | Thursday | 0.50 | 0.29 | 0.13 | 2.574 |
Rachel Maddow Show | MSNBC | Monday | 0.50 | 0.29 | 0.10 | 3.596 |
Erin Burnett OutFront | CNN | Tuesday | 0.47 | 0.30 | 0.12 | 2.225 |
Erin Burnett OutFront | CNN | Thursday | 0.45 | 0.29 | 0.16 | 2.114 |
The Story with Martha MacCallum | FOX News | Thursday | 0.45 | 0.28 | 0.10 | 2.647 |
CNN Tonight (10pm) | CNN | Thursday | 0.45 | 0.24 | 0.14 | 2.086 |
The Story with Martha MacCallum | FOX News | Wednesday | 0.44 | 0.28 | 0.12 | 2.846 |
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell | MSNBC | Thursday | 0.44 | 0.26 | 0.11 | 3.165 |
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.41 | 0.23 | 0.09 | 3.245 |
The Story with Martha MacCallum | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.40 | 0.23 | 0.11 | 2.665 |
All In with Chris Hayes | MSNBC | Thursday | 0.37 | 0.23 | 0.08 | 2.585 |
All In with Chris Hayes | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.37 | 0.20 | 0.08 | 2.681 |
The ReidOut | MSNBC | Wednesday | 0.36 | 0.23 | 0.11 | 2.640 |
2020 Biden Town Hall | MSNBC | Monday | 0.36 | 0.22 | 0.12 | 2.672 |
The ReidOut | MSNBC | Thursday | 0.35 | 0.22 | 0.11 | 2.466 |
The ReidOut (7:04pm) | MSNBC | Monday | 0.31 | 0.19 | 0.08 | 2.350 |
The ReidOut | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.31 | 0.16 | 0.06 | 2.242 |
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell | MSNBC | Monday | — | 0.16 | — | 2.927 |
Network | A25-54 | A18-49 | A18-34 | Total viewers |
FOX News | 0.76 | 0.49 | 0.24 | 4.60 |
CNN | 0.69 | 0.48 | 0.26 | 2.84 |
MSNBC | ~0.48 | 0.29 | ~0.15 | 3.32 |
All three networks benefitted off a noteworthy news cycle, mostly based around the COVID-19 “super-spreader” event that resulted in the President, First Lady, and many high-level workers and officials testing positive for COVID-19. Cable news programs consistently rated among the top cable programs every night.
The Vice Presidential Debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris scored high ratings for all three cable news networks on Wednesday, with FOX News leading the way in the key A25-54 demo, and CNN leading in the A18-49 and A18-34 demos. MSNBC lagged far behind in all key demos, yet still saw a large increase from their usual ratings.
Thursday night’s Hannity, which featured another phone interview with President Donald Trump, declined in all key demos from its Tucker Carlson Tonight lead-in, but rose in total viewers. MSNBC’s broadcast of Joe Biden’s Town Hall on Monday was close to the bottom of the chart, although it did tie or out-rate every other MSNBC show in key age demos that night other than Rachel Maddow Show. The town hall also aired on NBC, where it received a 1.1 in A25-54, 0.7 in A18-49, 0.4 in A18-34, as well as nearly 6.7 million viewers.
Only a few weeks ago, CNN seemed to be struggling in the ratings. This week, it was competitive with FOX News in key demos, nearly tying the conservative network in A18-49, beating it in A18-34, and closing the gap in A25-54. CNN continues to lag behind both FOX News and MSNBC in total viewers, instead courting a younger audience overall. For CNN, this is due in part to their high-rated coverage of the Vice Presidential Debate. The network always seems to do well with event programming, putting them in a good position ahead of Election Day and any aftermath.
CNN’s newfound competitiveness comes at the same time as President Trump’s electoral outlook takes a hit. Below is a table of the polling averages and betting odds according to RealClearPolitics:
National Average | Battleground States | Betting Odds | |
September 24 | Biden +6.5 | Biden +3.6 | Biden +7.4 |
October 1 | Biden +7.2 | Biden +3.5 | Biden +22.0 |
October 8 | Biden +9.7 | Biden +4.6 | Biden +29.4 |
President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, combined with a poorly-received debate performance, led to the betting market gaining confidence in a Biden Election Day win. Polls are now reflecting the increasing gap in the candidates’ betting odds. The betting market has never been more confident in a Biden victory than it was this week. Time will tell if Mike Pence’s performance at the Vice Presidential debate allows Trump to make a comeback as early voting expands into more states next week.
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