Cable news ratings drop post-election
Fox News leads prime-time ratings
Cable-news networks basked in a record-setting year for viewership spurred on by a tumultuous election, but the momentum has begun to subside.
With Fox News Channel leading the way, prime-time ratings jumped sharply for all networks between January 2016 to the runup to President Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20. However, when compared with ratings from September to November, each network saw declines.
Fox News Channel attracted an average of 2.844 million viewers in January during prime time (811 p.m. ET) — a increase of 35% over January 2016, but a 2% decline from September-November 2016, according to Nielsen.
CNN had 1.164 million primetime viewers in January — up 38% over last year, but down 22% compared to September-Novem- ber 2016. MSNBC’s prime-time January viewership of 1.160 million was up 53% over last year but down 18% from September-November 2016.
Among the three networks, Fox News has retained the most of its pre-election viewership growth. When looking at full-day viewership, which reflects regular news coverage beyond opinion or talk, Fox’s ratings rose 12% in January compared to election coverage in September-November 2016. CNN and MSNBC’s fullday declines were less than in prime time (13% and 16%, respectively).
Subsiding viewer ratings is natural after a presidential election, even one that wasn’t “just any other presidential cycle,” says Billie Gold of ad firm Dentsu Aegis’ Amplifi. But the flurry of activity out of the White House should keep cable news viewership high, she said. “Ratings will continue to stay above normal levels as political pundits battle it out on cable
news channels, creating a ratings windfall”... in the coming months if not the coming year.
“Like him or not, Trump equals ratings and dollars for cable news providers,” Gold said.
Fox News Channel dominated the top overall program chart with 14 of the top 15 shows, including The O’Reilly Factor as No. 1 (4 million viewers), No. 2 Tucker Carlson Tonight (3.7 million)
and No. 3 The First 100 Days (3.5 million). Tucker Carlson Tonight, which moved from 7 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. on Jan. 9 after Megyn Kelly announced her departure, was the top show among the coveted group of viewers aged 25-54.
Fox News hit a milestone, too, marking 15 consecutive years as the most-watched news channel, having surpassed CNN in January 2002.
Fox News also was the highestrated network for the total day, ahead of No. 2 ESPN (ESPN remains the most watched cable network in prime time).
CNN ranked No. 9 in prime time viewing and No. 8 for the full day; MSNBC ranked No. 10 in prime time and No. 13 for the full day.
MSNBC had its most-watched year ever, with shows such as Morning Joe and The Rachel Maddow Show hitting their highest viewer totals ever.
Cable news networks expand- ed their audiences during 2016 as viewers sought out primary and general election coverage. For the full year of 2016, Fox News Channel averaged about 2.5 million viewers in prime time, up 36% from 2015. CNN averaged 1.3 million, up 77%, and MSNBC averaged 1.1 million, up 87%.
It makes sense that Fox News, which is part of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, would come out ahead in the cable-news rating race, especially around elections.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that among all voters, Fox was the primary source of political news, with 19% tuning in, followed by CNN at 13% and Facebook at 8%.