It was an historic month for the Fox News Channel afternoon talk show “The Five”. Even though temporarily hosts have filled in for Juan Williams who departed last spring, its audience figures have not dipped. For the first time in its ten-year history, it was the most-watched cable news program for one calendar month. For weekdays from Oct. 1-29, it averaged 3.108 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, which eked past the network’s top prime time entry “Tucker Carlson Tonight” by 27,000 viewers (for the key 25-54 demographic, however, the two programs swapped rankings: Carlson was tops with 483,000 — +48,000 over runner-up “The Five”).
Punctuating things for “The Five” was that for the week of Oct. 25, all five of its telecasts were the five most-watched non-sports offerings on all of cable, not just in cable news. If sports are included, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” along with its pre-game and post-game shows as well as NFL Network’s “Thursday Night Football” were the only cable telecasts to have drawn more.
As indicated here in recent weeks, Fox News dominated the cable news landscape for October, landing 13 of the top 14 cable news programs in total viewers (the lone non-FNC entry was sixth-place “Rachel Maddow Show” from MSNBC which averaged 2.09 million) and 15 of the top 16 cable news shows among adults 25-54 (the aforementioned “Maddow” ranked 12th with 250,000 viewers within the demo.)
At No. 17 on the demo list was CNN’s top program “Erin Burnett Outfront” (which just celebrated its tenth anniversary) averaging 164,000.
October’s top five most-watched shows, in total viewers, outside of the big-3 cable news networks were Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports” (368,000 total viewers, 42nd in all cable news) and “Spicer & Co.” (285,000, 44th), CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” (283,000, 45th) and “Fast Money Halftime Report” (271,000, 46th) and Newsmax’s “The Chris Salcedo Show” (249,000, 47th).
HLN’s coverage of the Gabby Petito investigation was the top non-FNC/MSNBC/CNN original cable news entry in adults 25-54. Its seven telecasts averaged 66,000 viewers within the demo, ranking 41st place for all of cable news. (Several non-original airings of “Forensic Files” on HLN usually draw more.) Tied for runner-up were CNBC’s aforementioned “Squawk on the Street” and their Wednesday night celebrity docuseries “Jay Leno’s Garage”; each drew 56,000 adults 25-54, tied for 43rd in cable news.
Cable news averages for October 25-31, 2021. Fox News Channel extended their streaks to 37 weeks as cable’s most-watched network in total viewers and 11 weeks topping the combination of MSNBC and CNN in both total day and prime time among total viewers and adults 25-54.
Total Day (October 25-31 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.430 million viewers; 223,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.674 million viewers; 77,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.464 million viewers; 97,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.198 million viewers; 53,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.141 million viewers; 33,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.122 million viewers; 18,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.117 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.093 million viewers; 12,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (October 25-30 @ 8-11 p.m.; October 31 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.249 million viewers; 312,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.150 million viewers; 140,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.600 million viewers; 123,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.199 million viewers; 51,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.155 million viewers; 45,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.126 million viewers; 24,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.120 million viewers; 26,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.043 million viewers; 7,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top MSNBC and CNN programs with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 10/28/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.339 million viewers
2. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 10/27/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.267 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 10/26/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.264 million viewers
4. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 10/25/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.219 million viewers
5. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 10/29/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.193 million viewers
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 10/25/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.185 million viewers
7. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 10/27/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.153 million viewers
8. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 10/28/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.116 million viewers
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 10/26/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.113 million viewers
10. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 10/28/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.802 million viewers
25. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Tue. 10/26/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.157 million viewers
166. The Lead With Jake Tapper (CNN, Wed. 10/27/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.779 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top MSNBC, CNN and HLN programs with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 10/27/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.503 million adults 25-54
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 10/25/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.498 million adults 25-54
3. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 10/26/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.459 million adults 25-54
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 10/28/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.453 million adults 25-54
5. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 10/28/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.450 million adults 25-54
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 10/26/2021 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.449 million adults 25-54
7. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 10/25/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.439 million adults 25-54
8. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 10/27/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.419 million adults 25-54
9. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 10/28/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.418 million adults 25-54
10. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 10/29/2021 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.398 million adults 25-54
45. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 10/25/2021 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.280 million adults 25-54
93. CNN Newsroom (CNN, Thu. 10/28/2021 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.218 million adults 25-54
186. Forensic Files “Sibling Rivalry” (HLN, late Thu. 10/28/2021 3:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.134 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research…
