WGN America entered the cable news realm on September 1 with the launch of their prime time block of programming entitled “News Nation”. Owned by Nexstar (who acquired Tribune’s stations in 2019), the program was promoted as a factual-based, bias-free newscast with the resources from their 110 local newsrooms throughout the country, featuring more than 5,000 journalists.
The first night of “News Nation” on Sep. 1 (from 8-11 p.m.) posted 133,000 viewers; 34,000 of them within the key demographic for news programming, adults 25-54. The figures look paltry, compared to their cable news competition (noted later in this column). Despite the heavy promotion, ratings even fell short of WGN America’s previous prime time programs, which included reruns of broadcast network shows such as “Last Man Standing”, “Married with Children”, “How I Met Your Mother” and “Blue Bloods”.
For Sep. 1-6 in prime time (8-11 p.m.), “News Nation” averaged 91,000 viewers and 16,000 adults 25-54. Comparatively, WGN America’s prime time averages over the prior four weeks were, the following:
• August 24-30, 2020: 241,000 viewers; 72,000 adults 25-54
• August 17-23, 2020: 244,000 viewers; 60,000 adults 25-54
• August 10-16, 2020: 220,000 viewers; 61,000 adults 25-54
• August 3-9, 2020: 218,000 viewers; 58,000 adults 25-54
In addition, here were WGN America’s prime time averages over the same two weeks from one year ago — both the week before Labor Day 2019 and the exact first week of September 2019:
• September 3-8, 2019 (exactly one year ago): 363,000 viewers; 127,000 adults 25-54
• August 26-September 1, 2019 (week before Labor Day 2019): 289,000 viewers; 95,000 adults 25-54
WGN America will exhibit patience with “News Nation” as they track how much it will build (or, erode) upon these first-week figures, especially as the calendar nears Election Day in this presidential election year.
For the week ending Sep. 6, 2020 in total day data (from 6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. each day), Fox News Channel dominated the cable news landscape in viewers (1.81 million) and, in the key demographic for news programming, adults 25-54 (310,000). Its prime time programs “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Hannity” topped the list of cable news programs in both key figures.
To show how dominant Fox News Channel was, the network held a 49 percent lead over total-viewer cable news runner-up MSNBC (1.22 million), and a 43 percent advantage over cable news adults 25-54 demo runner-up CNN (217,000).
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top MSNBC and CNN programs with associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 8/31/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.932 million viewers
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 9/1/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.907 million viewers
3. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 9/1/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.837 million viewers
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 9/2/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.793 million viewers
5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 9/3/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.779 million viewers
6. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 9/2/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.652 million viewers
7. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 8/31/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.474 million viewers
8. Hannity Special (FOXNC, Thu. 9/3/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.158 million viewers
9. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Mon. 8/31/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.153 million viewers
10. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 9/2/2020 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.896 million viewers
11. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Tue. 9/1/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.864 million viewers
98. Cuomo Prime Time (CNN, Wed. 9/2/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.794 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top MSNBC and CNN programs with associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 9/3/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.953 million adults 25-54
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 9/1/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.934 million adults 25-54
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 8/31/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.897 million adults 25-54
4. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 9/1/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.892 million adults 25-54
5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 9/2/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.871 million adults 25-54
6. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 9/2/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.784 million adults 25-54
7. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 8/31/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.781 million adults 25-54
8. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Tue. 9/1/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.754 million adults 25-54
9. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Mon. 8/31/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.746 million adults 25-54
10. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Wed. 9/2/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.714 million adults 25-54
12. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Tue. 9/1/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.625 million adults 25-54
30. Cuomo Prime Time (CNN, Wed. 9/2/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.457 million adults 25-54
