Cable News Ratings: Fox News Tops Pope Coverage

CNN and HLN both rank ahead of MSNBC for announcement of Francis I

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/14/2013 5:49:58 PM

Fox News was the most-watched cable news network for Wednesday's coverage of the announcement of a new pope, according to Nielsen data.

FNC averaged 2.22 million total viewers from 2-4 p.m. ET ahead of second place CNN which drew 1.5 million viewers. HLN, which split coverage of the papal announcement with that of the Jodi Arias trial, ranked third with 913,000 total viewers with MSNBC coming in fourth with 596,000 viewers.

In the key adults 25-54 demo, the rankings were the same from 2-4 p.m., with Fox News drawing 443,000 viewers , CNN averaging 419,000, HLN posting 316,000 viewers and MSNBC's 142,000 viewers. From 3-4 p.m. when Pope Francis I was introduced to the crowd in Vatican City, CNN moved ahead of Fox News with 513,000 adults 25-54 compared to 495,000 viewers.