More people watched Fox News any given day or night in October than tuned in to CNN and MSNBC combined, according to Nielsen Media Research. By every metric, Fox News crushed its cable news rivals last month, continuing a long streak, by TVNewser's count: 202 consecutive months as the most-watched cable news network, 28 straight months as the No. 1 basic cable network during the day, and five consecutive months as top basic cable network in prime time. Fox News had all Top 5 rated cable news shows, led by Hannity, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show finished sixth. The top-rated CNN show was Cuomo Prime Time, ranked No. 23 in cable news.
An average of 2.8 million people watched Fox News each night last month, Nielsen said, versus 1.58 million for MSNBC and CNN's 931,000 viewers. CNN edged out MSNBC among viewers aged 25 to 54, but Fox News easily won that demographic, too. October "was quite a newsy month, from Hurricane Michael, to coverage of bomb threats, the domestic terror attack in a Pittsburgh synagogue, and a 'migrant caravan' in the latter half of the month," TVNewser notes, but that doesn't explain why CNN ranked ninth in basic cable, behind The Hallmark Channel. As for Fox News, the network averaged more viewers overall last month than in October 2016, right before a presidential election.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
6 charming homes for the whimsicalFeature Featuring a 1924 factory-turned-loft in San Francisco and a home with custom murals in Yucca Valley
-
Big tech's big pivotOpinion How Silicon Valley's corporate titans learned to love Trump
-
Stacy Horn's 6 favorite works that explore the spectrum of evilFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anthony Doerr, and more
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
