Coverage of COVID-19 has dominated the news and resulted in skyrocketing ratings for the nation’s cable news networks. In recent years, the joke within the TV industry was “flat is the new up” — meaning that ratings growth is so difficult that it’s a victory just to hold the status quo and not decline. 2 show among total viewers, while Sean Hannity placed second in the demo. Perhaps the most obvious example of the shift to digital and streaming comes from the premium services. If statistics are accurate, this number should reach a new low of 3.22 by 2020. 1, Sunday, April 18 Scoreboard: Fox News Edges CNN in Prime Time Demo, Earns More Substantial Victory in Total Viewers, Saturday, April 17 Scoreboard: Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters, Lead Fox News to a Dominant Win in Prime Time, Friday, April 16 Scoreboard: Fox News Dominates in Total Prime Time Viewers, A25-54, Thursday, April 15 Scoreboard: Fox News, Tucker Carlson Continue Hot Streak; MSNBC Tops CNN in Total Viewers, Wednesday, April 14 Scoreboard: Fox News, Tucker Carlson Sweep Total Viewers and the Adults 25-54 Demo, Tuesday, April 13 Scoreboard: Fox News Tops in Total Viewers, CNN Wins Total Day in Demo, Vice President for Marketing and Communications. Ranked by 2020 Year-To-Date. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ratings for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel topped all news and basic cable channels for a fifth straight year in 2020, according to Nielsen data released on Tuesday. Are reruns the future of linear TV? It maintains that distinction, but with a caveat: MTV Classic wound up not getting a rating at all. Founded by Robert Rodriguez and launched at the end of 2013, El Rey hoped to capitalize on a young, multicultural demographic with programs like “From Dusk till Dawn: The Series” and “Lucha Underground.” But the network wound up getting limited traction, and distribution started to falter — including DirecTV, which dropped it at the start of the year. Latest cable news ratings Stories. Katz a tip, email him, Week of April 12 Cable Ranker: Fox News Holds Onto First Place, Posts Audience Growth in Key Dayparts, Monday, April 19 Scoreboard: Hannity’s Interview with Trump Draws 4 Million Viewers, Week of April 12 Morning Show Ratings: GMA, Today, CBS This Morning All Post Growth in Total Viewers From Previous Week, Week of April 12 Evening News Ratings: World News Tonight Marks 55 Consecutive Weeks at No. Matchbox’s New Tesla Roadster Model Is Made From 99% Recycled Materials, PGA Tour Adds $40 Million Bonus for Social Stars as Golf Super League Looms, The World’s Smallest Instant Camera Is *Almost* Here: Find Out Where to Pre-Order the New Polaroid, TV Ratings: The Resident Ties CBS Reruns, Young Rock for Tuesday Win. Meanwhile, CNN had its most-watched prime time ratings ever in 2020 with both total viewers and the key 25-54 news demo. Thursday, April 1 Scoreboard: Tucker Carlson, Rachel Maddow Split First Place for 2nd Straight Day. Fox News, meanwhile, also had its best-ever year, becoming the first-ever cable news network to average more than 3 million viewers in primetime. Fox News also dominated in total day. That is all the more impressive because live non-entertainment programming gets very little delayed viewing, and even more important for advertisers who put a premium on ad-supported content where commercials can’t be skipped. Tucker Carlson was once again No. For Nov. 30 to Dec. 6, it averaged 2.71 million viewers. Newsmax seems to be cutting into Fox's demo performance at … Like clockwork. (Shout-out to TLC as well.) The three top cable news channels did rank 1-3 in all of cable in Q2 of 2020; in the order of Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. But 2020 was another tipping point for traditional television, and it’s not just because of the pandemic. Fox News’ best-ever ratings signify that we are a country divided ... 2020. Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart CABLE HIGHLIGHTS: Cable news was led by Fox News’s SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRET BAIER at 0.73/1.12/6.1M, with CNN’s CUOMO PRIME TIME at 0.49/0.77/2.9M, and MSNBC’s RACHEL MADDOW SHOW at 0.29/0.46/3.3M. In the end, ESPN was down 17% — but without “The Last Dance,” it could have been much worse. This is almost a full hour of watching less than just six years ago. Nightly News posted double-digit growth in the demo from the prior week. Cable news networks Fox News and MSNBC and sports-focused ESPN repeated as 1-2-3 atop all basic cable networks in total viewers in Live+7 Nielsen ratings for 2019. By Mollie Cahillane on Apr. Yes, linear TV still exists, and it’s still watched by millions of viewers. Without “Game of Thrones,” HBO saw more than half of its adults 18-49 linear audience disappear in 2020. Audiences are still watching their shows — but they’re not doing it on linear. Monday, April 5 Scoreboard: The Debut of Gutfeld! Katz a tip, email him here. How big was the channel’s Michael Jordan docuseries “The Last Dance”? On the smaller side, even tiny digital offering Newsy went from 3,000 to 8,000 viewers — which, given its tiny base, is a growth of 167%. CNN, meanwhile, beat MSNBC in the adults 25-54 demo in both prime and total day. El Rey later announced that it would cease operations on Dec. 31. 24. 1 in total viewers and the 25-54 demo. 14, 2021 - 5:57 PM. Fox News was again the most … Out-performing his 8 p.m. lead-in for the first time in a while. Not something we get to write particularly often. It also served as a powerful lead-in for its 10:00 p.m. successor, CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, which came in second overall in cable … 1 in Its … The steady decline of all kids networks went on overdrive this year, with Disney Channel (-33%), Nickelodeon (-32%), Cartoon Network (-29%), Nick Jr. (-17%), Disney Junior (-27%), Nicktoons (-42%), Teennick (-35%) all down. As a result, the channel was down 76% in viewership this year. Evening News also delivered week-to-week growth in the key measurements. Vice President for Marketing and CommunicationsRPA Inc.Washington, Washington DC, Marketing Manager IIMetrolinkLos Angeles, California, Creative DirectorCrisis Text LineRemote, New York, Promotion ProducerWCCB-TVCharlotte, North Carolina, Manager of AnalyticsJust GlobalEmeryville, California. The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. Homebound viewers handed all three major cable news networks big ratings rewards in the second quarter of 2020, though Fox News pulled in the most … … But even remaining flat is nearly impossible these days, let alone just small decreases — which is why the new saying should probably be, “single-digit declines are the new up!”. A few exceptions came from the small network end, with Discovery Family, Universal Kids and Baby First TV posting a touch of growth. Jonathan Capehart sat in for Lawrence O'Donnell, Ali Velshi for Rachel Maddow. Source: Nielsen, NPM (12/30/2019-12/06/2020, Live+7 and 12/07/2020-12/22/2020, Live+SD vs. 12/31/2018-12/08/2019, Live+7 and 12/09/2019-12/24/2019, Live+SD) Mon-Sat 8pm-11pm/Sun 7pm-11pm, ad-supported and premium pay networks. Most Nielsen-rated networks can be found here, with the exception of a few channels that are not ad-supported. To send TVNewser senior editor A.J. Source: Nielsen, NPM (12/30/2019-12/06/2020, Live+7 and 12/07/2020-12/22/2020, Live+SD vs. 12/31/2018-12/08/2019, Live+7 and 12/09/2019-12/24/2019, Live+SD) Mon-Sat 8pm-11pm/Sun 7pm-11pm, ad-supported and premium pay networks. 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Fox News, meanwhile, also … This new generation of kids will never know what it’s like to watch their shows on a schedule. All 10 episodes made it onto the year-end top 100 ranker among adults 18-49. And yet, it did for TLC, which ranks No. Holy “Schitt’s Creek.” The tremendous frenzy over the show’s final season not only garnered an unbelievable nine Emmys, but also helped grow the network 51% year-to-year (granted, from a super-low 138,000 to 209,000). And that’s including seven days of DVR and VOD time-shifting. According to Nielsen Media Research, Tapper’s exclusive dominated cable news with 866,000 viewers in the demo on Thursday. These top 10 lists are compiled based on Nielsen's SVOD and TV ratings. © Copyright 2021 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 15, 2021 - 6:03 PM, By Mollie Cahillane on Apr. Too bad the team that built that success is gone, and Pop is pretty much out of the originals business. In October 2020, the leading cable news program in the United States ranked by number of viewers was Fox News's 'Tucker Carlson Tonight', averaging 5.359 million total viewers. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Fox News is accustomed to crushing cable news rivals CNN and MSNBC in the ratings but in June and July of 2020, as more people were sheltered in place and news was at … As you can tell from the top 10, Fox News again dominated the competition. Anecdotally, people did watch more TV as they stayed at home this year — but they were either watching news, or catching their favorite shows on demand. Well, maybe not Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN. Averaged Nearly 1.7 Million Viewers, No. 16, 2021 - 5:02 PM, By Mollie Cahillane on Apr. Complete Broadcast, Cable and Pay TV Ratings Ranker for 2020 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Meanwhile, CNN had its most-watched prime time ratings ever in 2020 with both total viewers and the key 25-54 news demo. When the January 2020 Nielsen ratings dropped Tuesday, Fox News was crowned the top cable news channel for the 18th straight year. Its audience in the quarter was the largest in the network’s history in both total day and primetime, according to Nielsen Media Research. Of course, there are a few exceptions to the erosion this year; you’ll see them below as Variety recounts the TV winners and losers of 2020. Life, Liberty and Levin was the most-watched cable news show in prime, while CNN's The People vs. The Byron Allen channel, which consists mostly of reruns of panel shows featuring comedians, is consistently the least-watched network rated by Nielsen. While the English-language broadcast networks nurse double-digit declines, and even rival Telemundo suffered major erosion in 2020, Univision was up 11% with viewers and 6% with the 18-49 crowd. But the truth is, as this bruising year comes to a close, most major broadcast, cable and pay networks suffered another round of double-digit drops. MSNBC beat CNN in total viewers. For a lot of networks, this is one of the most worrying cable news viewership trends in 2020. The season premiere of MTV’s THE CHALLENGE was the strongest non-news original at 0.62. MSNBC remains the second-most-watched network on cable. Fox News was even a top 10 network in adults 18-49, despite its older skew, while CNN was up a whopping 95 percent in that demo. “We have a target audience that is generally 50 and older, and in some cases, even 60 and older,” said INSP COO Dale Ardizzone. The 25-54 demo is critical because most advertising on cable news networks is bought and sold using demographic ratings. “Given what the country faced in 2020, to have further grown and drawn new viewers proves we’re nourishing fans with comfort and emotion they’ve really needed at the right time,” said TLC president/general manager Howard Lee. Also growing are smaller diginets with a diet of old TV, such as Grit (up 6%), Heroes and Icons (up 6%) and Family Entertainment TV (up 5%). Fox News Channel topped cable news in prime time among total viewers once again. By fall, the network’s reach dropped to 13 million households (down from a peak of around 40 million), and Univision sold its stake. “And what we have found is that that is an audience that is a relatively underserved niche, and it is what we like to call an audience of cord cuddlers, not cord cutters.”. What has been steady viewership erosion for broadcast and cable went into overdrive this year, despite a pandemic that should have increased or at least stabilized viewership. Led by the unstoppable franchise “90 Day Fiancé,” which has spawned several spinoffs, TLC did the unthinkable in 2020: It posted its most-watched year in primetime in the history of the network. The three big cable news networks owned the top spots across all of cable for the month both in primetime and the total day: Fox News ranked first … Me TV is up another 7% in viewers, while INSP (which airs some originals along with its classic westerns) is up 9%. The history books may remember 2020 as challenging (at best), but news networks had a great year, ratings … Rachel Maddow was the night's No. CNN moves past MSNBC in the prime time demo, and posts week-to-week growth in key viewer categories. CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta won its time period (3-6 p.m.) in the demo. Fox hit record levels for a cable news channel and sat at the top of the list of news and basic cable channels for the fifth year. Get TVNewser delivered straight to your inbox, To send TVNewser senior editor A.J. And in bigger news, Comedy TV somehow managed to bolster its miniscule rating from 1,000 to 3,000 in primetime. People over 50 watch TV seven minutes less than last year. And they did: Fox News was up 43%, MSNBC climbed 23% and CNN jumped 83%. 1 among cable networks in the key female demos including women 25-54, women 18-49 and women 18-34. CNN won each hour from 2-8 p.m. in the demo. In prime time Tuesday night, Fox News led the cable news networks with 4.880 million total viewers, followed by MSNBC (2.818 million viewers) and CNN (1.841 million viewers). That just doesn’t happen anymore. The network averaged 2.5 million primetime viewers between the day after the election— November 4, 2020 — and Inauguration Day on January 20, 2021, Fox News reported. Discover what Americans are watching and playing when it comes to streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD), TV and video games. The Klan (10 p.m.) finished No. Below are the primetime rankers for broadcast, cable and premium cable networks in 2020, among total viewers (as well as the top 50 list in adults 18-49). Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” has broken the record for the highest-rated monthly viewership in the history of cable news, drawing in an average nightly audience of nearly 5.4 million, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings for October. February cable news ratings are in via Nielsen, and Fox News and CNN both have reasons to celebrate: Fox News delivered its highest primetime ratings … That was at least a bright note in a rough year for sports networks, given how many months the pandemic kept all games on hold. From Election Day through Inauguration Day, when Democrat Joe Biden was sworn in to succeed Trump as president, CNN was the most-watched cable news … Everyone would like to forget 2020. While everyone else braces to see how low they can go, the three major news cablers had a glorious year. CNN and MSNBC split second place in the daypart. (MarketingCharts) This email address is already subscribed to the selected list(s). All three major cable news networks had something to tout for the week ending Dec. 6, 2020, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox More Than Doubles CNN Prime Time Viewership in Thursday Ratings. [For historical record, here are previous year-end network rankers: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015.]. Nat Geo Mundo based on NPM-H. Ranked by 2020 Year-To-Date. An error has occurred, please try again later. 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