Explosions rock Ukraine's capital Kyiv as Russia's air assault on the nation continues
Foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports the latest from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Fox News finished February as the No. 1 basic cable network among both total and primetime viewers as beleaguered CNN continued to struggle.
Fox News averaged 1.7 million viewers during the news-heavy month that included ongoing coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while no other basic cable network surpassed the one-million viewer benchmark. MSNBC finished second with 719,000 and USA finished third with 662,000 average viewers. CNN settled for fourth, averaging 621,000 to finish more than a million viewers behind Fox News.
Americans flocked to Fox News from 8-11 p.m., when its primetime lineup of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham crushed all basic cable offerings while averaging 2.6 million viewers.
MSNBC averaged 1.2 million to finish second, followed by USA, HGTV, TNT, ESPN, Hallmark, INSP, History and TLC. CNN’s long-struggling primetime lineup of Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon averaged only 774,000 to finish outside the top ten as the network has floundered since Chris Cuomo was fired late last year.
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 615,000 demo viewers to finish as the most-popular show among the advertiser-coveted group. (Fox News)
Fox News’ viewership has now crushed CNN and MSNBC combined among both total day and primetime for seven straight months. Fox News also crushed the liberal networks among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 292,000 total demo viewers and 443,000 during primetime to beat CNN and MSNBC combined in both categories.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday evening, Fox News has averaged 2.3 million total viewers and 3.2 million during primetime as Americans seek news and analysis about the war. Fox News’ team of journalists on the front lines in Ukraine, Russia and Poland have helped the network to a 76% increase over CNN overall and an 85% primetime advantage while topping MSNBC by 137% among viewers and 128% from 8-11 p.m. Along the way, "America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith" and "The Faulkner Focus" posted their best weeks ever among the key demo.
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"The Five" finished February as the most-watched program on cable news, averaging 3.7 million daily viewers despite airing before the primetime hours that historically dominate ratings. "The Five" has now finished as the highest-rated program in total viewers for three straight months and four out of the past five months.
"The Five" finished February as the most-watched program on cable news, averaging 3.7 million daily viewers.
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 3.6 million to finish second, followed by "Jesse Watters Primetime," "Hannity," Special Report with Bret Baier," "The Ingraham Angle," "Gutfeld!," "Outnumbered," "American’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino" and "The Faulkner Focus" as Fox News offerings swept the top ten most-watched shows.
The most popular MSNBC offering was "The Rachel Maddow Show," which finished No. 10 overall. MSNBC is currently without the namesake host, as Rachel Maddow is on a hiatus to work on other projects. She isn’t expected to return until April, so her program could continue to fall in the coming weeks as it's already dropped 50% of its 2021 audience.
The most-watched show on struggling CNN was "Anderson Cooper 360," which averaged 816,000 viewers to finish as the No. 23 program on cable news. CNN’s most popular show lost to seven different MSNBC programs and 15 Fox News shows.
Fox News ended the month with 97 of the top 100 cable telecasts, while CNN didn’t have any.
Fox News’ viewership has now crushed CNN and MSNBC combined among both total day and primetime across for seven-straight months. (Fox News)
Fox News grew 26% percent compared to February 2021, while CNN shed 48% of its viewers and MSNBC lost 47% during the same time period. During primetime, Fox News gained 6% while CNN lost 54% and MSNBC dropped 46% of its audience from last year.
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February wasn’t only difficult for CNN from a ratings standpoint, as the network also saw Jeff Zucker get forced out by parent company WarnerMedia. The network initially claimed he was shown the door for failing to report a consensual relationship with CNN marketing chief Allison Gollust, who also resigned. WarnerMedia has since admitted Zucker and Gollust violated the company’s news standards and practices and breached "journalism integrity" after a probe into their handling of "issues" associated with Chris Cuomo and his big brother, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
As CNN struggles to attract viewers, incoming Zucker replacement Chris Licht has vowed to scrap what isn’t working.
Meanwhile, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 615,000 demo viewers to finish as the most popular show among the advertiser-coveted group. According to the most recent Nielsen MRI/Fusion data, "Tucker" ranked as the No. 1 program among Democrats in the demo while "The Five" and "Hannity" also placed among the top four cable news programs among Democrats in total viewers.
"FOX & Friends" averaged 1.4 million viewers to finish as the most-watched morning show on cable news for the 11th straight month. (Fox News)
"Gutfeld!" finished as the No. 1 cable show at 11 p.m., averaging two million viewers to outdraw ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and NBC’s "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" in the process. "Gutfeld!" also topped everything CNN had to offer regardless of time.
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"FOX & Friends" averaged 1.4 million viewers to finish as the most-watched morning show on cable news for the 11th straight month, while CNN’s "New Day" managed a dismal average audience of only 430,000.
Fox News also topped CNN and MSNBC combined during weekends, outdrawing the liberal networks across the board while winning every weekend hour. The newly launched Saturday night lineup of "One Nation with Brian Kilmeade," "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino" and "Lawrence Jones Cross Country" all won their timeslots. "
"Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" averaged 2.4 million viewers to finish February as the most-watched cable news offering on Sundays.
All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research