Media top headlines July 27
In media news today, PolitiFact declares that claim Biden, Harris distrusted COVID vaccine under Trump is 'false,' an ESPN writer says he was troubled by the American flag at the Tokyo Olympics, and Biden calls a reporter a 'pain in the neck' following her question about the vaccine mandate for VA front line workers.
Fox News Channel finished July as the most-watched network across all of basic cable as liberal CNN fell to new lows in key categories.
Americans flocked to Fox News during a busy month that included coverage of tragic Miami building collapse, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos launching into space and ongoing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Fox News averaged 1.2 million viewers to finish as the No. 1 basic cable network among total day viewers, followed by MSNBC and HGTV.
Fox News Channel finished July as the most-watched network across all of basic cable.
Fox News also finished first during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, averaging 2.1 million to dominate the field. MSNBC finished second but was well behind with 1.3 million average viewers, while HGTV, TNT and ESPN rounded out the top five.
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" was the most-watched program on cable news, averaging 3.1 million viewers. Hannity" finished second with 2.7 million and "The Five" finished third, averaging 2.5 million viewers to beat all primetime programming on CNN and MSNBC despite airing at 5 p.m. ET.
"Gutfeld!" dominated cable news in the 11 p.m. ET timeslot, outdrawing anything CNN had to offer regardless of time.
CNN’s most popular weekday show was "Cuomo Prime Time," which finished No. 22 behind 14 Fox News programs and seven MSNBC offerings. "Tucker," "Hannity," The Five," The Ingraham Angle," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "FOX News Primetime," Gutfeld!," "Outnumbered," "America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "The Faulkner Focus," "America Reports with John Roberts & Sandra Smith," "The Story with Martha MacCallum," "Your World with Neil Cavuto" and "Fox & Friends" all averaged more viewers than CNN’s most-watched show.
CNN’s struggling primetime lineup finished seventh in basic cable directly behind Hallmark Channel.
CNN’S DON LEMON HAS LOWEST-RATED WEEK SINCE STRUGGLING PROGRAM SWITCHED NAMES
Fox News also beat CNN and MSNBC among the key demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 201,000 viewers compared to 125,000 for CNN and only 103,000 for MSNBC. It was CNN’s lowest-rated month among the total day demo since September 2014.
During primetime, Fox News averaged 333,000 demo viewers while CNN averaged only 190,000 and MSNBC settled for a dismal 168,000.
"FOX & Friends" averaged 1.1 million viewers to finish as the most-watched morning show on cable news for the fourth-straight month, while CNN’s "New Day" continued to struggle.
"New Day" had its worst month since 2014 in the key demo, averaging only 84,000 viewers in the category coveted by advertisers compared to 200,000 for "Fox & Friends."
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Saturday programs "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino," "Watters’ World" and "Justice with Judge Jeanine" all crushed their timeslot competition, too. "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" was the most-watched cable news show on Sundays and "MediaBuzz" easily topped CNN’s "Reliable Sources."
"Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" outdrew all Sunday offerings on MSNBC and CNN.
All data is courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.