The Lead
CNN has invested plenty of resources into its New Year’s Eve programming in recent years. And while their ratings were down slightly this go around, the network still led all of cable television in the ratings during the final moments of 2024.
The network’s coverage — anchored by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen — earned an average of 1.9 million viewers from the 8 PM-12:30 AM window, with each later segment growing throughout the evening. Between 11 PM and 12:30 AM, the network saw an average audience of 3 million viewers, with a peak of 3.7 million from 12-12:30 AM according to Nielsen figures.
Additionally, CNN said that its streaming home on the Max platform saw its fourth-best day in history on New Year’s Eve, finishing behind election night and the two presidential debates, which all took place earlier in 2024.
ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025 was the most-watched program of the day. The late-night portion of the program averaged 17.9 million viewers, peaking at 21.5 million as the ball dropped to end 2024.
Cable News Reigns Supreme in 2024
2024 was always primed to be a big year for the television news business. But for Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, it might have been even bigger than expected.
For the duration of the year, Fox News was the top cable network in both total day (1.5 million) and primetime (2.4 million) viewership according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, MSNBC was second in total day with 791,000 viewers, and third in primetime with 1.2 million. CNN was fourth with an average of 481,000 total day viewers. It dropped to seventh in primetime, however, with an average of 685,000.
The only non-cable news channel to earn a top-four finish in the total-day ratings was ESPN, with an average of 672,000 total-day viewers.
Other cable news channels like Newsmax — 26th in the primetime ratings with 283,000 viewers on average — and NewsNation, which averaged 100,000 primetime viewers (61st), also saw good finishes during the year that featured extensive news programming and events like the Republican and Democratic National Conventions ahead of the 2024 election.
NewsNation Sees Late 2024 Victories
NewsNation saw the completion of its 24/7 cable news lineup in 2024, and it scored some late wins during the year as it bested CNN and MSNBC at times during the final weeks of the calendar year.
On Sunday, December 22nd, NewsNation Now Weekend beat MSNBC’s Alex Witt Reports in the key Adults 25-54 demographic during the 1-4 PM ET timeslot. The network beat MSNBC in the same demographic the previous Sunday for seven hours total.
Additionally, the day after Christmas saw a pair of wins for NewsNation as re-airs of its shows hosted by Ashleigh Banfield and Chris Cuomo earned wins over CNN programs from Erin Burnett and Kaitlan Collins in the Adults 25-54 demographic.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
