Free Republic

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I don't know if you've heard this or not, but last week, Fox News became the most-watched cable channel of all of them throughout all of last week, including the USA Network. In fact, Fox was the number one, most viewed cable network of all them, throughout all of last week -- not just cable news. All of cable. During the Boston bombings and the subsequent manhunt, Fox averaged 2.874 million viewers during primetime, 1.77 million in total day. Now, is that not fascinating? To become number one in all of cable you don't even need three...

In a piece published earlier today, Big Journalism made note of the fact that, in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, ratings confirm that CNN has now lost its "Big News" ratings dominance to Fox News. For over a decade, whenever major news broke, Americans were simply expected to abandon their regular news source to tune in to CNN. What we've seen lately, though, and without a doubt during the Boston Marathon terror attack, is that this is no longer the case. Fox News is now, if you will pardon the expression, "The Most Trusted Name In News." While...

While the arrival of 2013 rang in a happy new year, it also brought in happy ratings for the Fox News Channel, which continued to dominate the cable news channel race in total viewers and the Adult 24-54 demographic for the 11th consecutive year. According to a news release from FNC, Nielsen Media Research found that the network completed the previous 12 months with the top 11 programs in total viewers. Demonstrating the network's dominance is the fact that the evening audience for Fox News topped the ratings of CNN, MSNBC and CNN combined with an average of 2,071,000, up...

Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity predicted a Mitt Romney landslide in the presidential election. When that didn’t happen, Hannity’s audience abandoned him in droves. According to Nielson numbers, Hannity has lost about half of his audience since the election. This sort of drop is not unusual. News shows generally have higher ratings in the months leading up to elections. But compare Hannity’s numbers to Fox colleague Bill O’Reilly’s. O’Reilly lost about 30 percent of his audience. Both Hannity and O’Reilly still have numbers that top 2 million viewers per night, so they’re still cable powerhouses. But Rachel Maddow on liberal...

On Tuesday, May 16, CNN did something that hadn't happened to the network since 1997: The 9 p.m. edition of Piers Morgan Tonight drew an audience of only 39,000 viewers in the important 25-54 age demographic. These numbers come as a huge blow to the host, liberal, former tabloid editor Piers Morgan.

Fox News is still leading the cable news ratings race—but for how long? Fox's overall ratings for November dropped 13% compared to the same month last year, reports Mediabistro.

Ratings for Fox News are in the doldrums, down 21% in primetime so far this year. But don't cry for the right-leaning network -- it's been number one on cable for nine years now, and it still has the top 12 shows. According to a report from Business Insider, Bill O'Reilly remains in the top spot, but he lost 14% of his audience from the same three-month period last year. Sean Hannity places second, down 19%. Bret Baier (whoever he is) is third, beating out Glenn Beck, who has lost a whopping 30% of his audience. CNN and MSNBC have been the beneficiaries of...

In March, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 was the #1 cable news program at 10 pm in the key demo adults 25-54, overtaking FNC’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren for the first time in 26 months (January, 2009). For the month, AC 360 averaged 496k among adults 25-54, while FNC slipped into second place with 480k and MSNBC’s The Ed Show was a distant third with 266k. Compared to a year ago, the CNN 10 pm program had significant growth, increasing +153% in the key demo (496k vs. 196k) and +66% in total viewers (1.165m vs. 702k). During the...

Has the influence of cable news peaked? That's the conclusion of PEWs Project for Excellence in Journalism. According to their 2011 State of the News Media study all four cable networks saw their prime-time audiences fall in 2010. MSNBC, Fox, HLN, and CNN lost between 39,000 and 331,000 viewers as cable -- the fourth most popular platform for news -- showed signs of becoming less important. Fox News lost a whopping 11% of its prime time viewers (234,000 viewers), but that's not even the worst performance of the cablers. See who lost the most viewers >>

Unsurprisingly FNC easily won in primetime as well as the 5p-7pm period.  CNN pulled ahead of MSNBC but not nearly by the margins separating FNC and CNN. 8-11p ET MSNBC CNN FNC P2+ 1,945,000 2,423,000 6,957,000 25-54 669,000 1,030,000 2,431,000 5p-7p MSNBC CNN FNC P2+ 869,000 945,000 3,092,000 25-54 256,000 283,000 750,000   Fox News average viewership (6.935 million) topped all the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) coverage of the 2010 midterm elections head to head in the 10pm (Eastern) hour.In the news advertiser target adults 25-54 demographic, NBC lead the 10pm hour, followed by Fox, ABC and CBS....

Fox News returned to their usual spot as a top three cable network last week after a one-week hiatus during the July 4 vacation. Meanwhile the cable news competition was stuck 28th and lower. [Snip] MSNBC finished 28th, CNN 33rd and HLN 37th. It was a slightly better finish for each of these networks from the holiday week before.

Election Night Ratings: Fox News On Top, HLN Edges Out MSNBC In The 25-54 Demo Joe Pompeo Jun. 9, 2010, 6:29 PM Last night was election night. Fox News Channel finished first in primetime out of the major cable news networks, followed by MSNBC. CNN finished behind its sister network, HLN, which managed to edge out MSNBC in the age 25-54 demographic. Here are the primetime totals from Nielsen: FNC: 2,672,000 in P2+ (647,000 in 25-54) MSNBC: 967,000 in P2+ (251,000 in 25-54) HLN: 781,000 in P2+ (252,000 in 25-54) CNN: 698,000 in P2+ (244,000 in 25-54)[snip]

The biggest interview on television last week, with the Senate candidate Rand Paul, happened at 9 p.m. But regrettably for CNN’s Larry King, who used to rule that time slot by wooing newsmakers, the interview was booked by his higher-rated competitor, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Next week will be Mr. King’s 25th year on CNN, but these are hard days for the host, and not just because he is being beaten in ratings and bookings. Although still the linchpin of CNN’s lineup, he has come to embody an enormous problem facing the cable news channel. How can he and CNN compete...

Fox News had more total viewers and adults 25-54 than CNN, MSNBC and HLN combined during Tuesday’s primary election coverage. P2+ Prime Time FNC – 2,367,000 viewers CNN – 614,000 viewers MSNBC –997,000 viewers CNBC – 202,000 viewers HLN –420,000 viewers

Glenn Beck has been in denial about his ratings slide for weeks now. First, he claimed that there is no ratings decline for his Fox News show, and then he claimed that the weather was to blame for his 33% drop in viewership. However by attracting only 1.7 million viewers on Friday, Beck hit a new all time low which is now 50% off of his peak audience of 3.4 million.

There's no question Fox News is killing its competition in the ratings. And the reason is quite simple according to Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA), the parent company of Fox News. On Fox News Channel's May 4 "Your World with Neil Cavuto," Murdoch credited the success of Fox News to the void it fills as people are concerned about the political direction of the nation. He explained with that, his network draws viewers since other networks lean liberal, which is the dominant view of those in power in Washington, D.C. "Well, I think as Fox News...

Glenn Beck's Ratings Collapse Gillian Reagan Apr. 29, 2010, 4:15 PM Is Glenn losing his edge? Maybe not. Fox News' Glenn Beck might be a one-man $32 million media empire (books, radio shows, tours and more!) but what's going on with his marquee Fox News show? The Los Angeles Times' Joe Flint reports that News Corp.-owned Fox News cable news ratings are still high above the competition. But Glenn Beck's total number of viewers are down by almost 30%, from 2.9 million in January to 2.1 million in April. Glenn might not be the rising ratings juggernaut month to month,...

In news that’s sure to make liberals’ heads explode, Fox News has now sat atop the cable-news ratings for one hundred consecutive months. FNC also secured nine out of the top 10 programs in cable news for April in total viewers.

Last week, Nielsen reported that CNN had lost roughly half its prime-time viewers in the first quarter of 2010 compared with a year earlier... Meanwhile, Fox News’s “talk radio” on TV propelled it to second place among all cable networks in the same time period. In 2009, led by the twin riders of the apocalypse Glenn Beck (up 50 percent year over year) and his comparatively more fact-based coeval Bill O’Reilly (up a mere 28 percent, but still boasting an audience nearly five times that of Larry King’s), Fox had its best year ever.

Fox News Channel was the clear favorite in cable news during the February ratings period. In prime time, Fox News averaged 2.2 million viewers. It outpaced MSNBC with 935,000, CNBC with 637,000, HLN with 495,000 and CNN with 534,000. In the 25-to-54 age group, Fox News averaged 531,000 viewers. Fox News outpaced MSNBC with 350,000, CNBC with 312,000, HLN with 162,000 and CNN with 147,000. The five most-watched cable news programs were all on Fox News: “The O’Reilly Factor” with 3.6 million, “Glenn Beck” with 2.8 million, “Special Report With Bret Baier” with 2.5 million, “Hannity” with 2.5 million and...

MSNBC’s David Shuster became a fan of Fox News’ late-night comedy/news hybrid Red Eye just in time for its three-year anniversary. And it’s coming at a time when the 3amET show is seeing big ratings in the A25-54 demographic – even topping CNN prime time last week. Just like when we highlighted the show’s ratings in September 2009 (which the FNC advertising department enjoyed as well, taking out full-page ads in the New York Post and others), the ratings for last week show Red Eye beating CNN again. This time, the show had better ratings in the A25-54 demographic than...

MSNBC’s David Shuster became a fan of Fox News’ late-night comedy/news hybrid Red Eye just in time for its three-year anniversary. And it’s coming at a time when the 3am ET show is seeing big ratings in the A25-54 demographic – even topping CNN prime time last week. Just like when we highlighted the show’s ratings in September 2009 (which the FNC advertising department enjoyed as well, taking out full-page ads in the New York Post and others), the ratings for last week show Red Eye beating CNN again. This time, the show had better ratings in the A25-54 demographic...

Ordinarily, one wouldn't take much notice of a gallon jug losing only a drop or two of water a day. But if you came back a year later and saw it half-empty, that would get your attention. Such is the case with the steep ratings declines at CNN and MSNBC. A year ago, they already trailed Fox News badly -- so badly that Fox's audience in a given hour of prime time was sometimes greater than CNN, MSNBC, and Headline News (HLN) combined. Revise "sometimes" to "virtually always." A comparison of Media Bistro's scoreboard for Thursday, February 4, 2010 to...

Cable news ratings, January 18, 2010: Check out the highlights, and see the full ratings below: • Bill O’Reilly had the top show Monday night, again, in total viewers and the A25-54 demographic. But his total viewer average reached more than 4.3 million, which put his 8pmET FNC show more than one million total viewers ahead of 2nd place, Sean Hannity’s 9pmET show.

Americans do not trust the major tv news operations in the country- except for Fox News. Our newest survey looking at perceptions of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News finds Fox as the only one that more people say they trust than distrust. 49% say they trust it to 37% who do not. CNN does next best at a 39/41 spread, followed by NBC at 35/44, CBS at 32/46, and ABC at 31/46. Predictably there is a lot of political polarization in which outlets people trust. 74% of Republicans trust Fox News, but no more than...

Fox News was the top cable network in primetime last week, averaging the most total viewers between January 18th-24th. The last time FNC topped USA and came in first was during the week of the 2008 presidential election. In a week dominated by coverage of the earthquake in Haiti and the U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, FNC drew an average of 3.2 million total viewers in primetime (Mon-Sun). Fox was ranked 3rd in total day. CNN was 22nd in primetime and 19th in total day, and MSNBC was 25th in primetime and 31st in total day. Here's are the primetime...

All Cable But Fox News Cuts Brown Victory Speech in Favor of Coakley!When they say Fox News is fair and balanced they can prove it. Here is a comparison from Johnny Dollar showing the amount of time the cable news networks devoted to covering the Coakely concession speech and the Brown victory speech in last Tuesday's Massachusetts special election: You would think that considering Brown's amazing win, that his speech would be the greater story. But apparently the news directors at MSNBC and CNN thought that giving the loser more time was newsworthy. Read more at floppingaces.net ...

FOXNEWS HANNITY 6,809,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 6,399,000 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 5,228,000 FOXNEWS BECK 3,446,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 3,338,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 3,241,000 CNN KING 1,681,000 CNN COOPER 1,508,000 CNN BROWN 1,308,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,274,000 MSNBC MADDOW 1,236,000 CNN BLITZER 1,135,000 CNNHN BEHAR 845,000MSNBC HARDBALL 798,000

I just turned on my TV, and went directly to DIRECTV's "News & Information Channels". Right between FOX Business (Dave Ramsey) and FOX News (O'Reilly) is a click on for "The Australian Open Experience" (DIRECTV's channel mix). DIRECTV always places these next to HIGH TRAFFIC SITES. DIRECTV is acknowledging FOX is #1.

Sarah Palin was a smart hire for Fox News Channel, judging by the ratings for her debut on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Tuesday. The former Alaska governor's first appearance as an analyst drew 3.954 million viewers -- more than everything else on other cable new shows combined in the 8 p.m. hour.

While mainstream media members continue to belittle her at every opportunity, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin attracted huge audiences in her first two official appearances as a Fox News Channel contributor. Debuting on Tuesday's "O'Reilly Factor," the former vice presidential candidate drew almost 4 million viewers more than doubling the combined total of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and CNN's Campbell Brown. The following evening on "Glenn Beck," Palin attracted over 3 million -- at 5PM! Regardless of what her detractors say, Palin was a smash hit (complete numbers below the fold courtesy TVBytheNumbers.com, Tuesday first): 8PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64) The...

Love 'em or loathe 'em, and there seems to be little in between, 2009 was a remarkable year for Fox News Channel. Despite being ensnared in seemingly weekly controversies involving accusations that its coverage of the Obama administration was laced with right-wing political bias, the year-end numbers are in, and they show Fox News establishing dominance over rivals CNN and MSNBC. In short, 2009 was the best year in the network's 13-year history. According to Nielsen, the ten-most-watched cable news shows in 2009 were all Fox News programs. With conservative-leaning opinion shows like "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity," and "Glenn Beck"...

Five Reasons Why Fox News Dominated Ratings In 2009 by Steve Krakauer | 12:34 pm, December 18th, 2009 What we’ve known since about March is about to come true – Fox News is headed for its best ratings of all time this year. As their competitors in cable news fall far behind, FNC looks toward the rest of the cable universe as its new competition – it finished in the top five on all of cable in prime time and total day. What was the reason for FNC’s success? Heres’ five reasons. 1: Glenn Beck: Beck’s enormous success during his...

Fox News will finish 2009 as the top-rated cable news network, a perch it has enjoyed for eight years running. But 2009--the first year of the Obama administration--also marks FNC's highest rated year in the channel's 13-year-history. FNC topped the competition in all dayparts: morning (1 million total viewers, 340,000 viewers in news' target demographic of 25-54-year-olds); total day (1.2 million viewers, 323,000 in the demo); primetime (2.2 million viewers, 551,000 in the demo). Those numbers mark year-to-year demo gains of 14% in the morning, 16% in total day and 10% in primetime (Mon-Sun), according to Nielsen. FNC saw double-digit...

Let the battle begin. The two Celtic warriors, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, are now officially in a duel to the death after Hannity surpassed O'Reilly as the top cable newscaster of the past week. Sean Hannity's Wednesday interview with Sarah Palin averaged 4.2 million viewers, which was sufficient to crack the top ten telecasts in all of cable last week. O'Reilly's interview with Palin averaged 4.12 million viewers. It marks one of the first times that "Hannity" has ousted "The O'Reilly Factor" from the top spot and sets up a showdown between the two opinionated personalities, who both hail...

CABLE NEWS RACE NOV. 19, 2009 FOXNEWS O'REILLY/PALIN 4,120,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,871,000 FOXNEWS BECK 2,730,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 2,359,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 2,113,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 2,078,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,188,000 CNNHN GRACE 1,018,000 CNN KING 980,000 MSNBC MADDOW 877,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 597,000 CNN COOPER 585,000

From Drudge: CABLE NEWS RACE NOV. 18, 2009 FOXNEWS HANNITY/PALIN 4,200,000 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,868,000 FOXNEWS BECK 2,512,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 2,383,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 2,235,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 1,980,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,041,000 CNNHN GRACE 1,036,000 MSNBC MADDOW 957,000 CNN KING 835,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 625,000 CNN COOPER 611,000

Radio's Rush Limbaugh is not only good for his own business -- with a new eight-year contract offering him the potential to make $400 million -- he's also good for Fox News. Limbaugh's appearance on "Fox News Sunday" set a ratings record for the year so far for the network's Sunday morning counterpunch to "Meet the Press" and the rest. Limbaugh drew 3,892,000 viewers, including 1,180,000 in the coveted 25-54 age group, for the show on the Fox broadcast network and cable's Fox News Channel (2.35 million tuned in at FNC.) "I'm a ... guy who earns a percentage of...

Highlighting even further the ratings erosion at CNN in prime time, the “Most Trusted Name in News” finished in fourth place among cable news outlets during election coverage last night. Fox News was #1 by a mile, followed by MSNBC, then CNN sister network HLN and CNN in 4th place. They were fourth in both total viewers and the A25-54 demographic. CNN’s 4th place finish last night was only made more glaring because last year’s election coverage on the network was their best night of all time. They didn’t just have more viewers than every other cable news network last...

Election Night ratings charts from mediabistro and TVbythenumbers

We’ve had lots of cable news charts on the site recently showing dramatic declines for both individual cable news show and cable news network ratings as a whole compared to their October 2008 election period. Many have asked about a comparison of Fox’s results with those of CNN and MSNBC, and reader MikeS has come through again, compiling the charts below showing the relative audience for each network compared to its October 2008 average for both adults 25-54 and average viewers. It’s pretty clear that the election year ratings hangover being suffered by both CNN and MSNBC initially struck Fox...

Before Glenn Beck started his new show on Fox News in January, he sat down with Roger Ailes, the network's chief executive, to make sure they were on the same page. "I wanted to meet with Roger and tell him, 'You may not want to put me on the air. I believe we are in dire trouble, and I will never shut up,' " said the conservative radio host. But before Beck could say anything, Ailes shared a message of his own: The country faced tough times, he said, and Fox News was one of the only news outlets willing...

It’s a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn’s whine heard ’round the world — in terms of overall audience. Among the coveted 25-54 demographic? A 14-percent bump. Good work, Barry. People keep telling me that this PR offensive by the White House benefits both sides but I don’t see how that’s true. If the goal is to contain Fox by framing the stories it breaks — Van Jones, ACORN, etc — as somehow illegitimate, then every tenth of a point that Fox’s ratings go up undermines that goal. There will come a point where other news nets...

It’s a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn’s whine heard ’round the world — in terms of overall audience. Among the coveted 25-54 demographic? A 14-percent bump. Good work, Barry. People keep telling me that this PR offensive by the White House benefits both sides but I don’t see how that’s true. If the goal is to contain Fox by framing the stories it breaks — Van Jones, ACORN, etc — as somehow illegitimate, then every tenth of a point that Fox’s ratings go up undermines that goal. There will come a point where other news nets...

CNN’s numbers drop 68% in prime to last place I have been reporting CNN’s bad numbers for some time and now it will be official when the October numbers are in, CNN is in last place behind MSNBC, HLN and you know who.CNN’s numbers have dropped in half overall (52%) and 68% in prime time comparing October 2008 to 2009, TV by the Numbers reported.In the 25-54 demographic, CNN dropped 62% overall and by 77% in prime time.Even the mainstream press is now reporting it. “The official monthly numbers will be finalized at 4 p.m. Monday and will include results...

Last May, I wrote on CNN's ratings troubles in prime-time, after being topped by MSNBC during the hours of 8pm to 11pm. But for the month of October, CNN was beaten by not only MSNBC in the 25-54 demo, but also its sister network, HLN. Fox News remains the dominant cable news network, and will easily hold onto the number 1 spot. The Times Bill Carter reports on the latest numbers, which will be finalized this afternoon. While CNN has lost before to MSNBC and HLN, there are some notable firsts in how poorly some of the network's shows are...

25-54 demographic: Beck 681 O'Reilly 583....Total Viewers: Beck 2620 O'Reilly 2490

The last ratings cycle Monday night, Beck withing less than 200k of O'Reilly and that's at a 5:00p.m. timeslot, MSNBC also continues to lose viewers...

Fox News’ 3amET comedy/news hybrid Red Eye is in a league of its own when it comes to cable news shows. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a player in the ratings. Despite its late (or early, depending on your sleep habits) start time, the ratings for the show continue to improve, and surprisingly, top some cable news competition you might not expect. Last week we were forwarded this message board post on ActivityPit.com – Red Eye’s online community that feeds its dedicated base of fans. Here’s a part: The ratings came out for September and Red Eye is up...

Fox News’ 3amET comedy/news hybrid Red Eye is in a league of its own when it comes to cable news shows. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a player in the ratings. Despite its late (or early, depending on your sleep habits) start time, the ratings for the show continue to improve, and surprisingly, top some cable news competition you might not expect. Last week we were forwarded this message board post on ActivityPit.com – Red Eye’s online community that feeds its dedicated base of fans. Here’s a part: The ratings came out for September and Red Eye is up...