Fox News Channel primetime hosts Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld (Fox News)
Fox News Channel’s revamped primetime lineup continued to dominate cable news during its inaugural week, crushing MSNBC and CNN in key categories as Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity and Greg Gutfeld begin a new era.
The new primetime lineup launched last week with "The Ingraham Angle" kicking things off at 7 p.m. ET, followed by "Jesse Watters Primetime" at 8 p.m. ET, "Hannity" remaining at 9 p.m. ET and "Gutfeld!" now beginning at 10 p.m. ET. The first week was a tremendous success as Fox News averaged 2.1 million viewers from 7-11 p.m. ET compared to 1.4 million for MSNBC and a dismal 594,000 for CNN from July 17-21.
Fox News’ revamped primetime lineup also prevailed among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults ages 25-54, averaging 202,000 demo viewers compared to 143,000 for MSNBC and 112,000 for CNN.
JESSE WATTERS TO CONTINUE PUTTING ON SHOW ‘AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR’ WITH MOVE TO 8 PM ET
"The Ingraham Angle" kicks off Fox News Channel’s new primetime lineup at 7 p.m. ET. (FOX)
"Jesse Watters Primetime" airs at 8 p.m. ET. (Fox News)
"The Ingraham Angle" averaged 1.9 million viewers to beat CNN and MSNBC combined in the time slot.
"Jesse Watters Primetime" averaged 2.3 million viewers compared to the viewers of CNN and MSNBC combined, more than tripling CNN’s meager 666,000 viewers. "Watters" also grew the time slot by 50% in viewership and 34% in the critical demo versus "FOX News Tonight," which previously occupied the 8 p.m. time slot.
"Hannity" averaged 2.4 million viewers for the week to finish as the most-watched cable primetime show on cable news, and its Tuesday night town hall event with former President Trump drew 2.8 million viewers to finish as the highest-rated cable telecast of the week.
"Hannity" airs at 9 p.m. ET. (FOX)
"Gutfeld!" shifted to 10 p.m. ET. (FOX)
"Gutfeld" continued to thrive with the move to 10 p.m. ET, averaging 1.9 million viewers. Greg Gutfeld’s program also averaged 241,000 viewers in the key demo to finish as the most popular primetime program among adults age 25-54. "Gutfeld!" more than doubled CNN’s performance in the demo at 10 p.m. ET and grew the time slot 52%.
"FOX News @ Night with Trace Gallagher," which moved to 11 p.m. as part of the primetime revamp, averaged more than 1 million viewers and 128,000 demo viewers, winning the time slot in both categories.
Watters and Gutfeld, who continue to co-host "The Five" alongside Dana Perino and Jeanine Pirro in addition to their primetime gigs, were wildly successful as their 5 p.m. ET program finished as the most-watched, non-primetime program among both measurables.
"The Five" has been the most-watched cable news program for seven straight quarters.
For the week, Fox News aired 73 of the top 100 cable news telecasts.