President Obama’s struggle to present a clear strategy to combat the Islamic State might’ve caused some headaches in Washington last week. But it was all smiles at Fox News headquarters in New York City, as the network easily outdid its cable-news competitors and nearly ended up at the top of the cable-ratings pile altogether.
Nielsen reports that for the week starting on September 8, Fox News ranked second in primetime cable ratings and third in total daytme viewers — beating out not just its news competitors but nearly all other channels on cable (only the essentially unassailable ESPN beat Fox in primetime).
Megyn Kelly, host of Fox’s The Kelly File, landed in the top five highest-rated telecasts in cable on Wednesday with her coverage of president’s speech on the Islamic State, a huge performance for a news show.
Meanwhile, even as the NFL controversy and the advent of war against the Islamic State should have been boosting ratings across cable news, MSNBC came in 23rd in primetime and 27th in total daytime viewers, while CNN hit 30th and 25th, respectively.