One of the notable news stories of the past week was when Virgin Galactic launched founder Richard Branson, chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett and government affairs vice president Sirisha Bandla into space in a suborbital spaceflight aboard the aerospace company’s VSS Unity spacecraft on the morning of Sunday, July 11.
The one-hour space trip launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 10:51 a.m. ET and had traveled more than 50 miles above Earth, which the U.S. government considers to mark the boundary of outer space.
Branson proclaimed, “To the next generation of dreamers: If we can do this, just imagine what you can do.”
For coverage of the event, Fox News Channel edged just past CNN in total viewers during the 11 a.m.-noon hour, 1.479 million to 1.444 million (CNN’s most-watched hour of the week), according to Nielsen Media Research; it was vice versa between the two networks based on the key adults 25-54 demographic: CNN 275,000, Fox News 227,000. MSNBC trailed both cable news outlets with 1.116 million total viewers and 189,000 adults 25-54 — yet, this delivery was well above the network’s usual weekend figures.
Later on July 11, CNN debuted the first two episodes of its eight-part documentary series “History of the Sitcom”. Their initial telecasts topped all of cable news within the 9-11 p.m. time slot:
9-10 p.m.
- History Of The Sitcom “Part 1: A Family Matter” (CNN) 1.399 million viewers
- The Next Revolution (FOXNC) 1.279 million viewers
- The Week with Joshua Johnson (MSNBC) 0.470 million viewers
At 10 p.m., part two of “History Of The Sitcom”, entitled “Sex & The Sitcom”, drew 1.257 million viewers. It aired opposite re-airings of Fox News’ “Sunday Night In America” (947,000) and MSNBC’s “American Voices” (405,000).
Also on July 11: HLN’s crime docuseries “Forensic Files II” premiered its second season with back-to-back original episodes. The 10-11 p.m. hour averaged 176,000 adults 25-54, besting the entire Sunday prime times of each Fox News Channel (150,000) and MSNBC (approximately 60,000).
Here are the cable news averages for July 5-11, 2021 — cable’s best mark for the week in total viewers based on total day was by Fox News Channel; the 21st consecutive week FNC has accomplished this feat.
Total Day (July 5-11 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.175 million viewers; 193,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.752 million viewers; 100,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.598 million viewers; 125,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (July 5-10 @ 8-11 p.m.; July 11 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.046 million viewers; 309,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.266 million viewers; 156,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.833 million viewers; 184,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top CNN program with their respective associated rank) in total viewers:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 7/8/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.229 million viewers
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 7/6/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.153 million viewers
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 7/7/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.083 million viewers
4. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 7/8/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.770 million viewers
5. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 7/7/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.767 million viewers
6. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 7/8/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.622 million viewers
7. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 7/6/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.564 million viewers
8. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 7/7/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.528 million viewers
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 7/9/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.508 million viewers
10. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 7/6/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.473 million viewers
11. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Wed. 7/7/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.371 million viewers
47. Reliable Sources (CNN, Sun. 7/11/2021 11:00 AM, 60 min.) 1.444 million viewers
54. History Of The Sitcom “A Family Matter” (CNN, Sun. 7/11/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.399 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top CNN and HLN programs with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 7/7/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.550 million adults 25-54
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 7/8/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.518 million adults 25-54
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 7/6/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.511 million adults 25-54
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 7/9/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.492 million adults 25-54
5. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 7/7/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.418 million adults 25-54
6. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 7/8/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.416 million adults 25-54
7. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 7/8/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.389 million adults 25-54
8. Hannity (FOXNC, Fri. 7/9/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.353 million adults 25-54
9. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Wed. 7/7/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.349 million adults 25-54
10. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 7/7/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.347 million adults 25-54
29. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Tue. 7/6/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.284 million adults 25-54
124. Forensic Files II “The Obsession” (HLN, Sun. 7/11/2021 10:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.182 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
