Psst, cable-news executives. I’ve got a tip for you. There are a lot of takers for right-of-center viewpoints. Fox News Channel (FNC) just scored 94 of the top 100 live telecasts on all of cable TV in August. Fox’s average prime-time audience (2.5 million) is roughly double MSNBC’s (1.229 million) and triple CNN’s (819,000). In “the demo” (viewers under 55), the metric around which the TV advertising industry is based, FNC is administering a similar beating to its competitors: 394,000 viewers for FNC, 191,000 for CNN, 163,000 for MSNBC. Thirteen of the top 14 cable-news shows were on FNC, which swept the top five cable-news shows in viewership (and the same five were tops in the demo also):
1. Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged 3.302 million viewers;
2. The Five, 3.106 million;
3. Hannity, 3 million;
4. The Ingraham Angle, 2.394 million; and
5. Special Report with Bret Baier, 2.186 million.
Meanwhile, CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time show saw its lowest ratings since February of 2020. I wonder why. Any other institution that was getting beaten 94 to 6 would rethink its strategy and shake things up, maybe even try to learn from the industry leader. But CNN and MSNBC won’t.