Fox News dominated the cable news ratings again in July, posting four of the top five shows and being the No.1 basic cable network in total viewers for its 37th straight month.
Sean Hannity’s “Hannity” topped the rankings list with an average of 3.3 million viewers and 527,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 demographic. The former was up four percent from last month while the latter was up six percent from last month, though down 21 percent from the same month last year.
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” ranked second with 3.1 million viewers on average, followed by “Ingraham Angle (2.6 million on average), “The Five” (2.5 million viewers on average), and “The Rachel Maddow Show” (2.3 million viewers on average.
With an average of just 125,000 viewers in the age demographic, MSNBC had its lowest month since January 2017, even with the hyped-up Robert Mueller hearing and two Democratic presidential debates, noted Deadline.
MSNBC lost 10 percent of its prime-time viewers compared to last July and 28 percent in the coveted demographic while CNN dropped 11 percent in prime time compared to the previous July and 32 percent in the demographic.
While MSNBC trailed behind Fox, it ranked above CNN in total day viewers for its 29th straight month. Fox averaged 2.4 million viewers in prime time compared to MSNBC’s 1.5 million and CNN’s 797,000; in total day viewers, Fox had an average of 1.4 million viewers compared to 852,000 for MSNBC and 557,000 for CNN.
Along with the drop Maddow saw, MSNBC’s Brian Williams saw the number of his viewers decline and his show’s demographic rating plummet to its second-worst since it debuted in September 2016. “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams” was trumped by “Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream” for the fifth straight month in the demographic, and Bream’s show also slightly topped Williams’ in total viewers, noted AdWeek.
Maddow’s ratings represented a drop for the seventh consecutive month after she saw an average of 2.4 million in June. That was good enough for third, beating both “The Five” and “The Ingraham Angle.”
The show averaged 3.3 million viewers in January but has dropped every month since. In February, Maddow averaged 3.1 million; in March, she averaged 2.9 million.
That month saw Maddow interrupt a fishing trip to react to the submission of Mueller’s report. As rival Sean Hannity crowed about the findings on Fox, Maddow appeared to be holding back tears while on air.
Nielsen Ratings
The cable rankings are compiled by Nielsen Media Research.
“Nielsen ratings tell media participants who was exposed to content and advertising. We use multiple metrics such as reach, frequency, averages and the well known ratings—the percentage of a specific population that was exposed to content and ads—to determine exposure. TV ratings provide insight into who’s watching which programs—valuable information for networks, content distributors, brands, ad buyers, ad agencies, etc.,” the company says on its website.
“To measure TV audiences and derive our viewing metrics (i.e., ratings, reach, frequency), we use proprietary electronic measuring devices and software to capture what content, network or station viewers are watching on each TV and digital devices in the homes of our Nielsen Families,” it added.
“In total, we measure hundreds of networks, hundreds of stations, thousands of programs and millions of viewers. In the U.S., electronic measuring devices and millions of cable/satellite boxes are used to provide local market-level viewing behaviors, enabling the media marketplace to gain a granular view of TV audiences.”
