Monday, Aug. 8 was an unprecedented date in U.S. history — with a search warrant, the FBI entered the premises of a former U.S. President, as part of an investigation. The place: Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, in Palm Beach, Florida.
No media had covered the search live, as it occurred at its exact time; it was Trump himself that first made public mention of it. As that day transpired, minimal details had yet been disclosed.
The FBI search boosted all the cable news outlets, despite the varied slants of the event. All three Fox News Channel prime time programs — Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Ingraham Angle — from Aug. 8 each drew audiences well above their regularly potent levels and placed in the top six most-watched cable news telecasts of the week ending Aug. 14 (as indicated in the rankings at the bottom of this article). In addition, the aforementioned FNC trio made up the top-3 of all of cable news among the key 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The Aug. 8 edition of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, which also landed in cable news’ top ten telecasts in both total viewers and adults 25-54, also devoted its entire hour on the FBI search. At 3.52 million total viewers, Maddow posted its most-watched edition since Feb. 12, 2021, during the week of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump; with 496,000 adults 25-54, it was “Maddow’s” best demo delivery since Mar. 4, 2021.
Also achieving above-average audiences on Aug. 8 were Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt Tonight (308,000 total viewers) at 7 p.m. and Eric Bolling The Balance (379,000 total viewers) at 8 p.m.; and, at 9 p.m., NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live (102,000), nearly doubling its nightly averages in recent prior weeks.
Later that week, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal the warrant. The result of that unsealing was the public knowledge there were several classified documents seized from the Mar-a-Lago residence, including some related to nuclear weapons.
Garland’s press conference also spiked the ratings for each of the cable news outlets. From 3-4 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Aug. 11, FNC led coverage with 2.75 million total viewers and 363,000 adults 25-54 — the network’s top mark of the week for a pre-5 p.m. telecast. MSNBC was runner-up that hour in total viewers (1.57 million); meanwhile, CNN trailed with 1.37 million viewers, but it was the network’s second most-watched hour of the week. Concerning adults 25-54, CNN drew 252,000; MSNBC 196,000.
Cable news averages for August 8-14, 2022:
Total Day (Aug. 8-14 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.668 million viewers; 242,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.934 million viewers; 107,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.662 million viewers; 134,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.180 million viewers; 50,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.138 million viewers; 17,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.131 million viewers; 33,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.112 million viewers; 11,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.097 million viewers; 21,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (Aug. 8-13 @ 8-11 p.m.; Aug. 14 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.703 million viewers; 377,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.546 million viewers; 176,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.893 million viewers; 196,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.210 million viewers; 52,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.203 million viewers; 61,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.203 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.135 million viewers; 24,000 adults 25-54
- NewsNation: 0.063 million viewers; 9,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.049 million viewers; 5,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.264 million viewers
2. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.244 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 8/9/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.054 million viewers
4. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 8/11/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.789 million viewers
5. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 8/10/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.742 million viewers
6. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.696 million viewers
7. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 8/12/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.644 million viewers
8. Rachel Maddow Show “FBI Raids Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Home” (MSNBC, Mon. 8/8/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.523 million viewers
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 8/9/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.518 million viewers
10. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Tue. 8/9/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.428 million viewers
123. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Mon. 8/8/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.458 million viewers
255. Real Time With Bill Maher “Episode 608” (HBO, Fri. 8/12/2022 10:01 PM, 57 min.) 0.786 million viewers
357. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 8/14/2022 11:00 PM, 35 min.) 0.554 million viewers
388. Forensic Files II “In Deep” (HLN, Sun. 8/14/2022 10:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.461 million viewers
400. The Daily Show (CMDY, Thu. 8/11/2022 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.425 million viewers
432. Varney & Company (FBN, Wed. 8/10/2022 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.373 million viewers
439. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee “Episode 7207” (TBS, Thu. 8/11/2022 10:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.350 million viewers
462. Shark Tank “Shark Tank 721” (CNBC, Wed. 8/10/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.321 million viewers
675. Deep Water Salvage “(102) Emergency!” (TWC, Sun. 8/14/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.187 million viewers
753. Newsnation: Rush Hour (NWSN, Mon. 8/8/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.154 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.698 million adults 25-54
2. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.676 million adults 25-54
3. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.587 million adults 25-54
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 8/9/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.560 million adults 25-54
5. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 8/10/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.547 million adults 25-54
6. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 8/9/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.528 million adults 25-54
7. Rachel Maddow Show “FBI Raids Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Home” (MSNBC, Mon. 8/8/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.496 million adults 25-54
8. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 8/9/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.492 million adults 25-54
9. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 8/11/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.489 million adults 25-54
10. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Mon. 8/8/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.487 million adults 25-54
36. CNN Tonight (CNN, Mon. 8/8/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.320 million adults 25-54
133. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 8/14/2022 11:00 PM, 35 min.) 0.202 million adults 25-54
145. The Daily Show (CMDY, Thu. 8/11/2022 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.192 million adults 25-54
166. Forensic Files II “In Deep” (HLN, Sun. 8/14/2022 10:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.177 million adults 25-54
202. Shark Tank “Shark Tank 721” (CNBC, Wed. 8/10/2022 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.155 million adults 25-54
230. Full Frontal With Samantha Bee “Episode 7207” (TBS, Thu. 8/11/2022 10:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.144 million adults 25-54
275. Real Time With Bill Maher “Episode 608” (HBO, Fri. 8/12/2022 10:01 PM, 57 min.) 0.127 million adults 25-54
643. The Earth Unlocked “(107) Lakes” (TWC, Sat. 8/13/2022 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.047 million adults 25-54
689. Mornings with Maria Bartiromo (FBN, Fri. 8/12/2022 8:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.040 million adults 25-54
799. Newsnation Prime (NWSN, Sun. 8/14/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.027 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
