The “Battle for the Soul of the Nation” speech delivered by the President helped both CNN and MSNBC in the cable news ratings battle earlier this month.
President Biden’s speech on Thursday, Sep. 1 from Philadelphia’s Independence Hall was an attempt at bucking an historic trend. Since the end of World War II, the midterm elections have not been kind to a sitting President and his political party. Only twice before has the President’s party maintained the majority in the House of Representatives in Congress. Both those times occurring amidst extraordinary circumstances — the Democrats in 1998 with Bill Clinton in office, during a year when Republicans impeached him for his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; and, the Republicans in 2002 during George W. Bush’s presidency, one year following the 9/11 attacks.
Of course, our current political environment can also be described as extraordinary. Biden’s presidency follows a tumultuous and chaos-riddled four years of Donald Trump which featured the revamping of the Supreme Court that led to the near-five decade ruling of Roe v. Wade to be overturned, more than a million Americans having succumbed to COVID-19 and the insurrection at the Capitol that attempted to decertify the 2020 presidential election results.
Biden’s case to Americans on that night was to make clear that Trump and his “MAGA Republicans” are trying to subvert democracy with an “extreme ideology.” Ideally, Biden and his administration hoped to reach a significant portion of the prime time TV audience on this Sep. 1st night. The event certainly boosted the outlets of MSNBC and CNN. The 8 p.m. hour typically airing “All In with Chris Hayes” and “Anderson Cooper 360” on their respective networks drew audiences above average for the time slot: MSNBC’s 2.38 million total viewers including 259,000 within the key 25-54 demographic (according to Nielsen Media Research); 1.55 million viewers and 302,000 adults 25-54 on CNN.
But, a combined 3.93 million viewers for the 8-9 p.m. hour via linear platforms were all Biden’s speech had reached. Like the two primetime hearings of this past summer investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, Fox News Channel opted to stick with their regular prime time programming on this evening. FNC remained the most-watched single cable news outlet at night. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (2.89 million viewers; 428,000 adults 25-54) topped the 8 p.m. hour on cable.
The broadcast networks also opted for regular programming. With the exception of NBC, each single network outdrew MSNBC, the top outlet in Biden speech coverage — the 8-8:30 p.m. portion of ABC’s game show “Press Your Luck” (3.31 million), a rerun of CBS comedy “Young Sheldon” (3.21 million), and the first half-hour of Fox broadcast network’s Penn State-Purdue college football season opener (2.92 million),
From 8-8:30 p.m., a rerun of “Law & Order” on NBC drew 2.01 million viewers.
Cable news averages for August 29-September 4, 2022:
Total Day (Aug. 29-Sep. 4 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.424 million viewers; 206,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.838 million viewers; 89,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.529 million viewers; 99,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.160 million viewers; 46,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.130 million viewers; 15,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.129 million viewers; 33,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.109 million viewers; 23,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.101 million viewers; 12,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time (Aug. 29-Sep. 3 @ 8-11 p.m.; Sep. 4 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.140 million viewers; 286,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.403 million viewers; 136,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.653 million viewers; 138,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.229 million viewers; 23,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.190 million viewers; 61,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.179 million viewers; 49,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.146 million viewers; 25,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.055 million viewers; 5,000 adults 25-54
- NewsNation: 0.053 million viewers; 8,000 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. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 8/30/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.503 million viewers
2. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 8/29/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.488 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 8/31/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.404 million viewers
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 8/29/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.389 million viewers
5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 8/30/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.285 million viewers
6. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 9/2/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.166 million viewers
7. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 9/1/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.104 million viewers
8. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 8/31/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.984 million viewers
9. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 8/29/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.898 million viewers
10. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 9/1/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.894 million viewers
15. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 8/29/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.615 million viewers
86. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Thu. 9/1/2022 7:50 PM, 70 min.) 1.547 million viewers
418. Forensic Files “Wheel Of Misfortune” (HLN, Fri. 9/2/2022 12:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.311 million viewers
427. Varney & Company (FBN, Tue. 8/30/2022 11:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.291 million viewers
460. Fast Money Halftime Report (CNBC, Fri. 9/2/2022 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.255 million viewers
525. Heavy Rescue: 401 “(603) A Real Logjam” (TWC, Sun. 9/4/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.215 million viewers
816. Newsnation: Rush Hour (NWSN, Mon. 8/29/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.119 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. 8/29/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.482 million adults 25-54
2. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 8/30/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.457 million adults 25-54
3. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 8/29/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.451 million adults 25-54
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 8/31/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.433 million adults 25-54
5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 9/1/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.428 million adults 25-54
6. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 8/31/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.424 million adults 25-54
7. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 9/1/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.423 million adults 25-54
8. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 8/30/2022 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.422 million adults 25-54
9. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 9/2/2022 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.406 million adults 25-54
10. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Thu. 9/1/2022 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.397 million adults 25-54
28. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Thu. 9/1/2022 7:50 PM, 70 min.) 0.302 million adults 25-54
35. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 8/29/2022 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.279 million adults 25-54
284. Forensic Files “Dark Waters” (HLN, Sun. 9/4/2022 2:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.095 million adults 25-54
328. The News with Shepard Smith (CNBC, Mon. 8/29/2022 12:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.081 million adults 25-54
486. Storm Center (TWC, Mon. 8/29/2022 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.054 million adults 25-54
670. Mornings with Maria Bartiromo (FBN, Thu. 9/1/2022 8:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.035 million adults 25-54
815. Morning In America (NWSN, Thu. 9/1/2022 7:00 AM, 180 min.) 0.024 million adults 25-54
