Another week, another mass shooting in the United States. Since the start of the year through early June, there have been at least 240 of them in the nation.
The most notable shooting occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex. on Tuesday, May 24, when an 18-year-old gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers with his automatic rifle. Just ten days earlier, a similarly-aged shooter killed ten people at a supermarket in a predominantly Black area in Buffalo, N.Y.
In his address on the evening of May 24, as a response to the Uvalde school massacre, President Biden called on the nation to pray for the victims and to “stand up to the gun lobby” in the wake of the day’s events.
At 8:40 PM Eastern, Biden’s speech (approximately ten minutes in length) drew a combined 23.9 million tuned in across eleven outlets, including CNBC (218,000 viewers) and NewsNation (118,000). By virtue of its potent regularly-scheduled Tuesday night lineup, CBS was the most-watched outlet on all of television for Biden, with 5.23 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox News Channel was runner-up with 4.44 million; ABC (3.61 million) was third.
CBS, FNC, and ABC each delivered a 0.7 rating (equating to approximately 852,000 viewers within the age range) among the key 25-54 demographic, leading all outlets, although ABC’s larger 18-49 delivery over CBS (698,000 vs. 564,000) indicates ABC may have the slight edge in 25-54 as well.
The rest of the outlets in ranking order based on total viewers: NBC (2.48 million), CNN (2.27 million), Fox broadcast network (1.69 million), and MSNBC (1.61 million).
Univision (1.49 million) topped Telemundo (0.92 million) to be the top Spanish-language network to carry Biden.
Cable news averages for May 23-29, 2022:
Total Day (May 23-29 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.440 million viewers; 230,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.664 million viewers; 78,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.548 million viewers; 130,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.174 million viewers; 50,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.139 million viewers; 32,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.126 million viewers; 14,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.114 million viewers; 13,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.105 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (May 23-28 @ 8-11 p.m.; May 29 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.216 million viewers; 361,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.022 million viewers; 109,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.742 million viewers; 205,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.212 million viewers; 59,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.199 million viewers; 56,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.169 million viewers; 21,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.112 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.063 million viewers; 10,000 adults 25-54
- NewsNation: 0.052 million viewers; 10,000 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. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.435 million viewers
2. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.778 million viewers
3. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.750 million viewers
4. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 5/23/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.414 million viewers
5. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 5/25/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.361 million viewers
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 5/23/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.303 million viewers
7. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 5/25/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.180 million viewers
8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.178 million viewers
9. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 5/26/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.137 million viewers
10. Special Report with Bret Baier (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 6:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.123 million viewers
24. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Tue. 5/24/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.267 million viewers
32. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 5/23/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.967 million viewers
378. Varney & Company (FBN, Mon. 5/23/2022 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.393 million viewers
409. Sex & Murder “Deadly Breakfast Date” (HLN, late Sun. 5/29/2022 12:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.315 million viewers
455. Shark Tank (CNBC, Sun. 5/29/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.274 million viewers
466. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee “Episode 6185” (TBS, Sat. 5/28/2022 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.268 million viewers
504. America’s Morning Headquarters (TWC, Tue. 5/24/2022 9:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.247 million viewers
679. Newsnation: Rush Hour (NWSN, Tue. 5/24/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.179 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top CNN, MSNBC, and HLN programs with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.809 million adults 25-54
2. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Tue. 5/24/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.726 million adults 25-54
3. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.693 million adults 25-54
4. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.597 million adults 25-54
5. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Tue. 5/24/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.595 million adults 25-54
6. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.568 million adults 25-54
7. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 5/25/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.525 million adults 25-54
8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.517 million adults 25-54
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 5/23/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.507 million adults 25-54
10. Special Report with Bret Baier (FOXNC, Tue. 5/24/2022 6:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.505 million adults 25-54
80. Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell “Texas Elementary School Shooting” (MSNBC, Tue. 5/24/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.241 million adults 25-54
216. Forensic Files “Private Thoughts” (HLN, Tue. 5/24/2022 10:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.123 million adults 25-54
337. Shark Tank (CNBC, Fri. 5/27/2022 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.089 million adults 25-54
372. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee “Episode 7214” (TBS, Thu. 5/26/2022 10:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.082 million adults 25-54
460. America’s Morning Headquarters (TWC, Wed. 5/25/2022 9:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.061 million adults 25-54
626. Varney & Company (FBN, Wed. 5/25/2022 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.042 million adults 25-54
725. Newsnation: Rush Hour (NWSN, Fri. 5/27/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.035 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
