The following is a table featuring the prime time cable news ratings from Monday, January 18 through Wednesday, January 20, followed by discussion. Let us know what you think by leaving a reaction and a comment!
Network | Day | A25-54 | A18-49 | A18-34 | Total viewers | |
Presidential Inauguration (9pm) | CNN | Wednesday | 2.12 | 1.60 | 0.97 | 7.060 |
Presidential Inauguration (8pm) | CNN | Wednesday | 1.81 | 1.34 | 0.84 | 6.224 |
Presidential Inauguration (7pm) | CNN | Wednesday | 1.78 | 1.33 | 0.80 | 6.074 |
Presidential Inauguration (10pm) | CNN | Wednesday | 1.63 | 1.21 | 0.71 | 5.299 |
Celebrating America (8:30pm) | MSNBC | Wednesday | 1.03 | 0.71 | 0.37 | 4.518 |
Cuomo Prime Time | CNN | Tuesday | 1.01 | 0.77 | 0.44 | 3.936 |
CNN Tonight (10pm) | CNN | Tuesday | 1.01 | 0.72 | 0.33 | 3.607 |
Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | Tuesday | 0.98 | 0.70 | 0.41 | 4.089 |
MSNBC Press Conference (7:07pm) | MSNBC | Wednesday | 0.94 | 0.62 | 0.35 | 4.425 |
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell | MSNBC | Wednesday | 0.91 | 0.61 | 0.25 | 4.201 |
Erin Burnett OutFront | CNN | Tuesday | 0.89 | 0.64 | 0.37 | 3.634 |
NBC News: Inauguration Prime Time | MSNBC | Wednesday | 0.87 | 0.57 | 0.29 | 4.090 |
Presidential Inauguration (7:39pm) | MSNBC | Wednesday | 0.86 | 0.56 | 0.32 | 4.019 |
Rachel Maddow Show | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.83 | 0.51 | 0.17 | 4.869 |
Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | Monday | 0.67 | 0.44 | 0.21 | 3.125 |
Rachel Maddow Show | MSNBC | Monday | 0.62 | 0.36 | 0.12 | 4.083 |
CNN Tonight (10pm) | CNN | Monday | 0.61 | 0.39 | 0.14 | 2.410 |
Cuomo Prime Time | CNN | Monday | 0.61 | 0.38 | 0.18 | 2.899 |
Erin Burnett OutFront | CNN | Monday | 0.60 | 0.39 | 0.17 | 2.772 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Wednesday | 0.59 | 0.40 | 0.18 | 3.714 |
The ReidOut (10pm) | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.54 | 0.35 | 0.12 | 3.406 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.53 | 0.29 | 0.15 | 3.644 |
All In with Chris Hayes | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.52 | 0.32 | 0.13 | 2.996 |
Tucker Carlson Tonight | FOX News | Monday | 0.48 | 0.30 | 0.13 | 3.459 |
The ReidOut (7pm) | MSNBC | Tuesday | 0.47 | 0.29 | 0.13 | 2.856 |
Hannity | FOX News | Wednesday | 0.46 | 0.32 | 0.11 | 3.196 |
Hannity | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.43 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 3.045 |
Fox News Primetime | FOX News | Wednesday | 0.42 | 0.27 | 0.14 | 2.157 |
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell | MSNBC | Monday | 0.42 | 0.23 | 0.09 | 3.325 |
The Ingraham Angle | FOX News | Tuesday | 0.40 | 0.24 | 0.15 | 2.399 |
The Ingraham Angle | FOX News | Monday | 0.36 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 2.313 |
The ReidOut | MSNBC | Monday | 0.36 | 0.22 | 0.11 | 2.315 |
Hannity | FOX News | Monday | 0.36 | 0.21 | 0.10 | 2.992 |
All In with Chris Hayes | MSNBC | Monday | 0.33 | 0.20 | 0.09 | 2.392 |
The Ingraham Angle | FOX News | Wednesday | — | 0.23 | — | 2.394 |
Fox News Primetime | FOX News | Monday | — | 0.16 | — | 1.884 |
Fox News Primetime | FOX News | Tuesday | — | 0.15 | — | 2.012 |
Greg Kelly Reports | Newsmax TV | Monday | — | 0.11 | — | 0.833 |
Greg Kelly Reports | Newsmax TV | Tuesday | — | 0.08 | — | 0.840 |
Stinchfield | Newsmax TV | Monday | — | 0.08 | — | 0.485 |
Greg Kelly Reports | Newsmax TV | Wednesday | — | 0.07 | — | 0.752 |
Stinchfield | Newsmax TV | Tuesday | — | 0.06 | — | 0.559 |
Stinchfield | Newsmax TV | Wednesday | — | 0.06 | — | 0.499 |
Rob Schmitt Tonight | Newsmax TV | Tuesday | — | 0.05 | — | 0.397 |
Rob Schmitt Tonight | Newsmax TV | Monday | — | — | — | — |
Rob Schmitt Tonight | Newsmax TV | Wednesday | — | — | — | — |
CNN was first place in every demographic for the coverage of President Biden’s Inauguration. In fact, they roughly doubled MSNBC’s second place ratings in A25-54, A18-49, and A18-34. This should come as no surprise, as CNN usually has higher ratings than the other networks for major events.
Fox News Primetime had an abysmal launch in the 7pm time slot for its first two nights, with both airings being far and away the lowest-rated hours across FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC in A18-49 and neither placing in their respective night’s top 50 cable programs in that demographic. Following weeks will give a clearer idea as to who the network may pick as the permanent host, and if eliminating a news show hour in favor of an opinion show hour was worth it.
The biggest story of this week arguably comes from Monday’s ratings. All networks were fair game for first place, and CNN won it comfortably. They now enter the Biden Administration as the network to beat.