Cable News Ratings: Fox News’ Afternoon Show ‘The Five’ Beats CNN, MSNBC Primetime
In an August full of political conventions and breaking news, each major cable news network saw high total viewership and Fox News was the top network in cable. Fox News’ “The Five,” an afternoon panel show, beat CNN and MSNBC’s primetime shows while CNN had its most-watched August in 40 years, according to Nielsen Media Research.
In primetime in August, Fox News had 3.637 million total average viewers, of whom 638,000 were in the advertiser-coveted age demographic of 25 to 54. MSNBC had the second-highest total of primetime viewers with 2.194 million, on average. Of those, 357,000 were in the demo. CNN saw 1.685 million total average viewers and was in second place for demo viewers with about 454,000 between 25 and 54 watching the channel’s primetime offerings.
Fox News had four of the top five programs in cable news, of which three were primetime. Fifth place went to MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow” show. “The Five” was the third-ranked cable program, a rarity in the primetime-dominated slots.
*Also Read:* MSNBC and CNN Have Daytime Ratings Wins in July, Fox News Is Most-Watched
In total, “The Five” averaged 3.446 million total viewers, of whom 527,000 were in the demo. “Maddow,” the only non-Fox News show in the top five, averaged 3.116 million, with 470,000 in the demo.
Executive producer Megan Albano told TheWrap of “The Five” and its ratings success, “The discussions that you see taking place on the show are the same conversations taking place at dinner tables and in living rooms around the country. They’re lively, they’re fun and of course, they’re a bit contentious. At our core, the show is a reflection of what our viewers are going through in their lives and I think, like us, viewers appreciate the importance of balancing both debate and laughter.”
CNN, too, saw August wins in 2020, up 47% in total viewership over August 2019. CNN was up 50% in the demo compared to last August, too, and had its most-watched August in 40 years in total day, primetime and dayside programming. For the ninth straight month, CNN bested MSNBC in total day demo ratings, with an average of 257,000 viewers between 25 and 54 compared to MSNBC’s 197,000.
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