by Eric Lendrum
As of Friday, the cable news networks CNN and MSNBC saw significantly lower ratings than their competitors, including the dominant cable news channel, Fox.
According to the Daily Caller, CNN scored the lowest overall, with roughly 511,000 daytime viewers on average, and 545,000 primetime viewers. MSNBC saw about 753,000 daytime viewers and 1 million primetime viewers. Fox, by comparison, had over 1.72 million total viewers.
In the key demographic of 25-54, MSNBC’s daytime average was about 69,000, while its primetime average was 76,000. CNN saw about 104,000 daytime viewers in this demographic, and 91,000 in primetime.
Fox also greatly surpassed its competitors with individual shows in both daytime and primetime. “Fox & Friends” saw over 1 million viewers on average, while MSNBC’s Morning Joe accumulated about 770,000 on average, and CNN’s New Day saw a mere 286,000. “Fox & Friends” also saw the highest viewership in the 25-54 age demographic, with 195,000 viewers; Morning Joe saw 94,000, while New Day saw a mere 56,000.
In primetime, Tucker Carlson’s show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” dominated with 2.85 million views, while MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” got 1.08 million; Anderson Cooper’s show on CNN saw 645,000 views.
Fox’s newest show, “Jesse Watters Primetime,” reached 2.17 million viewers. By contrast, MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” with Joy Reid saw record-low numbers compared to the previous year, with 946,000 viewers; her monthly ratings dropped by about 31 percent from the previous year, and her show lost 57 percent in the 25-54 demographic. CNN’s Erin Burnett reached about 643,000 viewers.
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Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22). He is currently a co-host of The Right Take podcast.
Photo “CNN Headquarters” by Billy Hathorn. CC BY-SA 3.0.
