Cable News Ratings: Fox News Channel Still On Top
MSNBC second in 25-54 demo, topping CNN for third straight month
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/2/2009 5:24:19 PM
Fox News Channel was once again the top-rated cable news network for the month of May, another newsy month that included the announcement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s retirement, the ongoing American automotive industry crisis and dueling national security speeches from President Obama and former vice president Dick Cheney.
MSNBC again topped CNN in primetime in the 25-54 demographic, the third consecutive month MSNBC has beaten CNN in the demo.
FNC had nine of the top-ten programs in cable news among total viewers, posting a 30% increase in primetime in the 25-54 demographic compared to May 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research. MSNBC was down 9% and CNN was down 37%. HLN was up 40% to come within 2,000 viewers of CNN in the demo. MSNBC averaged 250,000 viewers in the demo in primetime to finish in second place behind CNN (194,000 viewers) and HLN (192,000 viewers). But FNC’s primetime demo tune-in beat MSNBC and CNN’s combined, averaging 463,000 demo viewers.
FNC’s signature programs posted double-digit ratings gains in total viewers and the demo.
Glenn Beck posted a 130% gain in the time period among demo viewers compared to the same period last year. The O’Reilly Factor and Hannity both posted 31% gains and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren was up 45%.
At 8 p.m., MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann was down 26% year-to-year, the show’s first such decline since September 2006. Countdown nevertheless beat out HLN’s Nancy Grace among demo viewers (323,000 versus 304,000) and CNN’s Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull (323,000 versus 159,000). FNC’s O’Reilly was tops in the hour with 702,000 demo viewers, marking its 102nd consecutive month as the top-rated cable news program.
At 9 p.m., MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow experienced a downturn, posting the weakest tune-in since the show’s September launch. But Maddow was still second in the time period among demo viewers, outpacing CNN’s Larry King Live (247,000 versus 232, 000). King claimed more total viewers (1 million versus 902,000). FNC’s Sean Hannity led the hour with 540,000 demo viewers.
At 10 p.m., CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 was down 34% year-to-year to 223,000 demo viewers, ending the month in third for the hour. FNC’s On the Record was first with 452,000 demo viewers followed by a rerun of HLN’s Nancy Grace with 234,000 viewers. A repeat of MSNBC’s Countdown was fourth with 209,000 demo viewers.
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Commenting that Fox leans to right!! What about CNN and worsr MSNBC. Just because we have 3 times as many viewers, at least they have opposing views on each and every night. More that I can say for the rest.
karen dangeli - 9/11/2009 6:29:58 PM EDT -
Please people, just use your intellect, not your predispositions to analyze what you hear. Fox is completely biased to the right, and everything you hear from them must be considered tainted by that. MSNBC is biased to the left and so you must drain their information through your filter as well before you make a decesion as to what your goin to think. Use your brain.
Joe - 9/11/2009 4:29:50 PM EDT -
I watch Fox News cuz Obama and Gibbs told me I should watch out for them giving me mis-information. I have been watching for months now and am still waiting.
cliff oliver - 9/9/2009 3:10:41 PM EDT -
I would think that the very 1st thing that would make people NOT watch a news channel would be a perception that it was not credible, or that it was not fair and balanced. Why would that many people watch something that they didn't think was on the level? Maybe some people can watch Beck or O'Reilly when they think they're wrong all the time; BUT I CANT! I've TRIED to watch Keith Obermann, but I wind up screaming at, and throwing things at the TV because he's such a fountain of misinformation and twisted reality. Good Lord, my pulse has gone up just thinking about it! I hope their continued plummeted ratings drive them off the air. By he way, I think Rachel Maddow is really a MAN.
Kenny Vaughan - 9/5/2009 8:28:36 PM EDT -
The person from Nashville, TN recently stated Fox News is no longer a credible source to use for a paper. I guess that would be true if your not interested in writing papers based on FACT. Your probably a left wing loon having a hard time owning up to the FACT that Fox is the primary source for any news. I mean, did you look at the ratings on this page? Can you give us any example at all as to how Fox News isn't credible? Is 80% of the news watching public simply watching Fox because they're interested in fictional stories? Crawl back into your whole(a very small one) with the rest of your radicals. On 9/12 the Capitol's streets will be filled with true patriots who love their country. Join us if you want real change you can believe in. Let's remind Congress that we have invested interest in a country whose government should be "for the people by the people." The constitution still means a lot to most Americans.
Steven L. Hall - 9/2/2009 1:49:51 AM EDT
