New from Reader MikeS, similar to his 8pm chart, comes a 5-11pm Cable News network comparison ratings chart. The chart shows average viewership in thousands.
The trend lines above are 30 day moving averages.
For complete information on all cable news ratings check our daily cable news ratings posts.
Nielsen Cable Network Coverage Estimates (as of December, 2009)
CNN/HLN: 100.22 million HHs
CNBC: 97.59 million HHs
FNC: 98.04 million HHs
MSNBC: 93.0 million HHs
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2010 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Wow, another ratings spike for FOX news.
CNN actually shows some sign of life…..MSNBC…errrrr….not so much.
Fox News Channel should be praying for democrats to stay in power. They get their ratings that way.
Also, as much as MSNBC has gone far left, they are just following FNC’s strategy. Granted they aren’t as successful in ratings as FNC, but they are doing much better than they were before their switch to partisan commentary.
Interesting that only FOX saw a drop-off during the holidays when all the commentators were on vacation. They sure came back with a vengeance though.
Looks like CNN has been milking the Haiti disaster for all its worth and MSNBC is as irrelevant as ever.
Those left wing loons just don’t get it more they put Fox News down, the more people watch. How many times do you have to get kicked in the head; with the recent election win. People are fed up with all the bullshit. Fox News has done much better coverage in the Haiti and with the recent election.
Craig: I think you give left-wing loons too much credit. People who would tune into left wing media are not likely to switch to right wing media. The ratings of fox is not causation from left wing media, the increased ratings for fox is causation from a Democratic president, and a democratic congress.
As for Fox’ Haiti coverage–I think they have done their job there. I wouldn’t say they did above average journalism there–but that’s understandable. As Ailes states today, FOX is in the ratings business, and they know their bread and butter is anti-establishment. Focusing on government inefficiencies will bring more ratings than covering what the government is doing.
Like somebody mentioned before, they are going to have to change the definition of ‘main stream media’. I mean shouldn’t FNC be considered main stream? After all you can add the numbers together of all other media outlets and they would still get beaten by FNC
Hey why is my all time favorite Comedy Network FNC on this list??? No matter I see it is doing AMAZING in the ratings which means there’s no risk of me loosing one of the most entertaining channels on T.V.
watching it always cracks me up
FNC is able to portray itself as non mainstream because it isn’t really a news channel during primetime. They are commentary….and no you’re wrong regarding media outlets. The broadcast news channels still trump FNC by a large amount. They do much much higher ratings than FNC.
But the Broadcast Networks are in decline while FNC is on the rise. FOX would do well to have news on the Broadcast network.
Shut up Roland you moron. Fox News was killing the competition all 8 years of Bush and all 6 years of Republican dominance as well. Your tiny left-wing brain is so bereft of facts and logic that it its as hollow and empty as another Olbermann rant.
The chart shows that the ratings have spiked more or less in parallel for the cable news channels, probably in sync with big news events. FNC continues to kill the competition no matter who is in power. Deal with it.
@Diogenes: a little respect goes a long way. Fox News as I have stated is doing well in Cable competition; however it is true that they aren’t the go to people in news. They are the go to channel in commentary. Broadcast news absolutely slaughters cable channel news. That is fact and logic.
I did not belittle FNC at all. In fact I like some of their shows, but I also realize that it is the equivalent of other commentary shows—and they don’t deny that. Roger Ailes stated today that he’s in the ratings business first, news second. Glenn Beck doesn’t hide from that either–he states essentially the same thing.
To state the truth is not being a liberal or conservative. I am not bashing FNC—I think they do what they do well. But to state that they are killing their competition is just untrue. Broadcast still gets way more audience during their news than FNC does.
I think the problem is that progressives are not nearly as fanatical on average as conservatives and have less need to sit around watching shows that tell them what to think. They can do it for themselves.
Or… maybe that liberals are only 20% of Americans and Conservatives are 40%. Naturally, there are twice as many conservatives as liberals.
Not my numbers, their Gallups. Unless you guys want to discount Gallup. (Whatever)
Roland, you are correct about the broadcast news. My argument however is that A.) The cable news doesn’t compete with broadcast news, B.) FNC has less than 100 million viewers possible and broadcast news has close to or more than 300 million, and C.) On major news events, even given being a cable channel with 200 million less possible viewers, FNC had higher ratings than ABC’s entire primetime lineup and was near CBS ratings. Again, amazing for a cable channel.
For all you guys saying that MSNBC is jsut as successful as FNC they jsut compete with CNN, give me a break. FNC has higher ratings than CNN and MSNBC COMBINED. So that doesn’t matter.
In major events, FOX wins BY FAR. MSNBC tanks and CNN gets a minor bounce.
Stop putting FNC at MSNBC’s level. FOX has Beck and Hannity but even they will put on a few liberals. (well, hannity anyways)
MSNBC just ignores all dissent. AND why are they always interviewing people from Huffington ect.? WHo the hell cares? FNC actually puts on former campaign managers ect. who have real insight
Lol MSNBC, CNN, FNC all have their talking heads with so called “insight” these cable news network don’t give you news they are just their to reinforce ideas people already believe in.
I’m going on a limb here and predict that by 2020 broadcast news will have declined enough, and cable news broadcasters will have increased enough, to be on a par in the ratings.
With Fox already drawing numbers during news hours that should make CBS worry, I believe the ratings will tighten up to the point that the broadcasters and cable channels will be within 1 – 2 million viewers of each other by 2020. Whether CNN, Fox, or MSNBC (if it still exists, I have doubts about that but I’m not ready to order a tombstone for it yet) is the #1 cable news channel at that time I will not predict (too many variables, including, but not limited to host changes, society changes, and management/ownership changes).
I do see two possible roadblocks to this happening. One is the entrenchment of habit by viewers. The chart and data above indicates that all cable channels have about 93 to 100 million HHs covered, or, using US Census data for household sizes in the United States currently, about 240 to 262 million people (HH being households with televisions, not individual people — statistically, the US Census people say there are, on average, 2.6 people in a household, right now in the United States).
Whether these people in coverage areas actually subscribe or are merely “covered” I’m not sure (if it is the later, then there is yet more room for growth for the cable channels and the determinant will be cost of purchase for cable packages and on what tiers the cable news channels reside).
The other roadblock will be alternate sources of information. The Internet is already a significant source of information (accurate and otherwise) for news and all news-delivering channels have websites for people to check out the latest. With more people carrying gadgets that do everything short of walking the dog and changing the car’s oil, people may migrate away from television news viewing in larger numbers. How that affects the ratings race only time will tell.
One last thing: MikeS, these charts are great visual references. Keep up the fantastic work.
Nightstar, Nielsen estimates 114.9m TV HHs in the US for the 2009-10 broadcast season.
It’s about the changing content of the two types of media.
Liberals are politically immature. They draw conclusions from headlines, they don’t track individual senators, for example. Most can’t tell you a single name from the Supreme Court, and tend to know only the president, and if he falls down a lot, the vice president. Start one rumor (like Palin saying “I can see Russia from my house” and they take it as truth.)
Conservatives are engaged. They have congressmen that have angered them in the past. They’ve followed history and know what happened the last time one of these guys got in. And history is repeating itself, other than the creepy communist component of it, this time.
Liberals listen to FM “party” radio. Conservatives, AM “Talk” radio.
Liberals are likely to tune in to watch the news. Ever. Conservatives can sometimes set the alarm for it.
Liberals won’t often listen to Limbaugh, but those that do tend to mature a bit. They hear that Fox News is spawn of Satan, and that’s good enough for them! They must be some real liars, there!
Well, no. It’s just not propaganda, that’s all. There have been all kinds of studies; it’s true.
My question is…why would ANYONE pay these people for shows on MSNBC, when they’re so lame, only hostages watch? Why so many “news” networks no one’s watching anymore? Just how long will they pay, being as completely inneffectual as they are? Tradition don’t feed the home: they need income, too!
Roland.
Fox News not only blows away the other cable outlets but they destoy broadcast news programs as well.
Where are you getting this information?