Cable news itself made major news on the afternoon of Apr. 18 when it was announced Fox News had to fork over $787.5 million in settlement money to Dominion Voting Systems to avoid a full-fledged public civil trial that was set to begin opening statements that week.
Dominion’s lawsuit had charged the media outlet of pushing the false premise that its voting machines were rigged to make Joe Biden victorious in 2020, a claim repeatedly made by Donald Trump since that election.
While Fox News Channel itself had not addressed the settlement on its airwaves, the other outlets did as news broke. At 4 p.m. ET on Apr. 18, FNC’s foil MSNBC devoted two full hours or coverage drawing 1.59 million total viewers including 159,000 within the key 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Compared to the prior Tuesday (Apr. 11), MSNBC’s Deadline: White House delivered similar raw figures: 1.55 million viewers and 168,000 adults 25-54. But most notable about its Apr. 18 number was it ranked as MSNBC’s second most-watched hour of the week (in total viewers) ending Apr. 23, only behind the Apr. 17th edition of The Rachel Maddow Show (listed in the rankings at the end of this article). The Apr. 11 Deadline ranked 11th for the network for its respective week.
The breaking news also somewhat benefitted CNN with its Apr. 18th The Lead with Jake Tapper from 4-6 p.m. ET averaging 864,000 viewers — an increase of 27 percent from the prior Tuesday (681,000 viewers on Apr. 11). However, unlike most other breaking news events, CNN (136,000) did not top MSNBC (159,000) in the key 25-54 demo here; in addition, CNN oddly declined 17 percent demo-wise from the same time window of one week prior (164,000 from Apr. 11 at 4-6 p m. ET).
The conclusion: older viewers (those aged 55 or older) were interested and invested in the Fox News-Dominion story much moreso than their younger counterparts.
For FNC, the network at the center of the story, it was ratings business as usual for its 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. programs, despite not referencing the largest-ever publicly-known defamation settlement by a U.S. media outlet:
Tuesday Apr. 18
- Your World with Neil Cavuto (4-5 p.m.) 1.440 million viewers; 191,000 adults 25-54
- The Five (5-6 p.m.) 3.011 million viewers; 351,000 adults 25-54
Tuesday Apr. 11
- Your World with Neil Cavuto (4-5 p.m.) 1.548 million viewers; 178,000 adults 25-54
- The Five (5-6 p.m.) 2.997 million viewers; 319,000 adults 25-54
Cable news averages for April 17-23, 2023:
Total Day (Apr. 17-23 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.200 million viewers
- MSNBC: 0.735 million viewers
Prime Time (Apr. 17-22 @ 8-11 p.m.; Apr. 23 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 2.058 million viewers
- MSNBC: 1.111 million viewers
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, Tue. 4/18/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.223 million viewers
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 4/17/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.174 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 4/17/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.089 million viewers
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 4/19/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.050 million viewers
5. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 4/18/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.011 million viewers
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 4/20/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.992 million viewers
7. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 4/19/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.850 million viewers
8. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 4/20/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.810 million viewers
9. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 4/21/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.685 million viewers
10. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 4/21/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.646 million viewers
14. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 4/17/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.497 million viewers
150. The Lead with Jake Tapper (CNN, Tue. 4/18/2023 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.907 million viewers
185. Real Time with Bill Maher “Episode 632” (HBO, Fri. 4/21/2023 10:00 PM, 59 min.) 0.716 million viewers
310. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 4/23/2023 11:07 PM, 34 min.) 0.463 million viewers
312. The Daily Show “Apr 18, 23 – Jordan Klepper” (CMDY, Tue. 4/18/2023 11:00 PM, 35 min.) 0.459 million viewers
378. Varney & Company (FBN, Tue. 4/18/2023 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.362 million viewers
408. Heavy Rescue: 401 “(705) A Lump In The Throat” (TWC, Sun. 4/23/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.301 million viewers
449. Fast Money Halftime Report (CNBC, Thu. 4/20/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.234 million viewers
451. Rob Schmitt Tonight (NMX, Wed. 4/19/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.230 million viewers
465. Forensic Files (HLN, late Fri. 4/21/2023 2:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.218 million viewers
516. Cuomo (NWSN, Wed. 4/19/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.187 million viewers
667. Tooning Out The News “Tooning Out The News-121” (CMDY, Wed. 4/19/2023 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.136 million viewers
961. Real Sports “Episode 312” (HBO, Tue. 4/18/2023 10:00 PM, 59 min.) 0.074 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, Tue. 4/18/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.481 million adults 25-54
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 4/17/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.445 million adults 25-54
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 4/19/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.357 million adults 25-54
4. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 4/18/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.351 million adults 25-54
5. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 4/17/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.343 million adults 25-54
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 4/20/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.334 million adults 25-54
7. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 4/19/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.329 million adults 25-54
8. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 4/20/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.326 million adults 25-54
9. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Wed. 4/19/2023 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.313 million adults 25-54
10. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 4/17/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.304 million adults 25-54
24. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 4/17/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.235 million adults 25-54
54. Erin Burnett Outfront (CNN, Tue. 4/18/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.185 million adults 25-54
100. The Daily Show “Apr 18, 23 – Jordan Klepper” (CMDY, Tue. 4/18/2023 11:00 PM, 35 min.) 0.151 million adults 25-54
110. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 4/23/2023 11:07 PM, 34 min.) 0.148 million adults 25-54
130. Real Time with Bill Maher “Episode 632” (HBO, Fri. 4/21/2023 10:00 PM, 59 min.) 0.142 million adults 25-54
322. Forensic Files (HLN, late Fri. 4/21/2023 4:30 AM, 30 min.) 0.073 million adults 25-54
411. Tooning Out The News “Tooning Out The News-121” (CMDY, Wed. 4/19/2023 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.050 million adults 25-54
413. Weather Gone Viral “(504) Eye Of The Storm” (TWC, Sun. 4/23/2023 1:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.050 million adults 25-54
473. Banfield (NWSN, Wed. 4/19/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.041 million adults 25-54
583. Billionaire Space Race (FBN, Sun. 4/23/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.030 million adults 25-54
639. Real Sports “Episode 312” (HBO, Tue. 4/18/2023 10:00 PM, 59 min.) 0.025 million adults 25-54
648. Rob Schmitt Tonight (NMX, Thu. 4/20/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.025 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
