As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its second week, the three major cable news outlets — Fox News Channel, CNN, and MSNBC — all remained relatively steady and potent, being cable television’s three most-watched networks for the second consecutive week (averages listed below).
In addition, Fox News Channel was the second most-watched network of all of television in weeknight primetime from Feb. 28 to Mar. 4, averaging 4.12 million viewers (according to Nielsen Media Research) and topping NBC (3.92 million) and ABC (3.55 million) despite those networks’ offerings like the “Chicago” and “Law & Order” drama franchises, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Bachelor.”
The broadcast of President Biden’s State of the Union Address from Mar contributed most to FNC’s high-rated week. 1. An estimated 38.2 million total viewers had tuned in across sixteen networks; FNC was its top draw with 7.21 million viewers. Moreover, it was the network’s most-watched State of the Union address by a Democratic president in its history, far surpassing the previous mark of 5.7 million for President Obama in 2010.
The address’ other top networks, based on total viewers were, in order: ABC (6.3 million), CBS (4.86 million), CNN (4.83 million), NBC (4.7 million), MSNBC (4.06 million), the Fox broadcast network (1.86 million), Univision (1.35 million) and Telemundo (1.16 million).
Newsmax drew 462,000 viewers, CNBC 284,000, and NewsNation 153,000.
Biden’s Mar. 1st State of the Union, which was highly anticipated for it had addressed the crisis in Ukraine, grew 42 percent from his Apr. 28, 2021, joint session address (26.94 million) and outdrew the last four years of the Obama administration (none of which even topped 33.6 million from 2013-16).
Additionally, FNC was the number one network in all of television for coverage of the Republican response from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, averaging 5.975 million total viewers. ABC was runner-up with 3.75 million.
It’s important to note that as reflected in the data for other recent live events, there is an added measurement of out-of-home viewing and viewership on streaming-enabled TV sets that rely on devices such as Roku or Xbox. This TV season is the first to incorporate this information into the viewing figures.
Over at the business channels, during the weekday daytime period of 9:30 AM- 5:00 PM, Fox Business Network (FBN) secured 231,000 total viewers, topping CNBC (228,000) with total viewers for the week (Feb. 28-Mar. 4) for the first time since the 2020 Presidential Election. At 4 PM, “Kudlow” secured its highest-rated week since launch with 366,000 total viewers, which more than doubled CNBC’s Closing Bell (182,000). This marks the ninth consecutive week Kudlow has topped CNBC. Nonetheless, as the averages stated below indicate, CNBC surpassed FBN in the overall total day figures due to its more-viewed prime time programming.
Cable news averages for February 28-March 6, 2022:
Total Day (February 28-March 6 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.172 million viewers; 456,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 1.185 million viewers; 336,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.960 million viewers; 135,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.208 million viewers; 67,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.155 million viewers; 25,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.141 million viewers; 36,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.108 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.115 million viewers; 13,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (February 28-March 5 @ 8-11 p.m.; March 6 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 3.557 million viewers; 736,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 1.839 million viewers; 604,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.685 million viewers; 260,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.225 million viewers; 40,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.245 million viewers; 78,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.189 million viewers; 68,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.155 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.044 million viewers; 7,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top MSNBC program with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. State of the Union 2022 (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:08 PM, 62 min.) 7.206 million viewers
2. State of the Union Coverage (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 8:55 PM, 13 min.) 6.624 million viewers
3. State of the Union/Analysis (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:10 PM, 22 min.) 6.545 million viewers
4. State of the Union/Republican Response (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:32 PM, 14 min.) 5.975 million viewers
5. State of the Union/Analysis (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:46 PM, 14 min.) 5.439 million viewers
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 8:00 PM, 55 min.) 5.367 million viewers
7. State Of The Union 2022 (CNN, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:08 PM, 63 min.) 4.830 million viewers
8. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 3/3/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.511 million viewers
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 2/28/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.476 million viewers
10. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 3/2/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.453 million viewers
16. State of the Union Address (MSNBC, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:08 PM, 80 min.) 4.057 million viewers
• Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 3/06/2022 11:04 PM, 29 min.) 0.581 million viewers
• Daily Show (CMDY, Mon. 2/28/2022 11:00 PM, 31 min.) 0.413 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top MSNBC program with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:
1. State of the Union 2022 (CNN, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:08 PM, 63 min.) 1.788 million adults 25-54
2. State of the Union 2022 (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:08 PM, 62 min.) 1.709 million adults 25-54
3. State of the Union/Analysis (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:10 PM, 22 min.) 1.551 million adults 25-54
4. Preview “State Of The Union 2022” (CNN, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:00 PM, 8 min.) 1.505 million adults 25-54
5. State Of The Union Coverage (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 8:55 PM, 13 min.) 1.417 million adults 25-54
6. State of the Union Analysis (CNN, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:11 PM, 21 min.) 1.389 million adults 25-54
7. State of the Union/Republican Response (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:32 PM, 14 min.) 1.334 million adults 25-54
8. State of the Union/Analysis (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:46 PM, 14 min.) 1.185 million adults 25-54
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 3/1/2022 8:00 PM, 55 min.) 1.097 million adults 25-54
10. GOP Response “State Of The Union 2022” (CNN, Tue. 3/1/2022 10:32 PM, 16 min.) 1.067 million adults 25-54
33. State Of The Union Address (MSNBC, Tue. 3/1/2022 9:08 PM, 80 min.) 0.680 million adults 25-54
• Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 3/06/2022 11:04 PM, 29 min.) 0.244 million adults 25-54
• Daily Show (CMDY, Mon. 2/28/2022 11:00 PM, 31 min.) 0.178 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
