Sure, it's debate season but it's also Monday Night Football and MLB playoffs season and according to Nielsen data, Fox News was the #1 most-watched network in basic cable in both primetime and total day last week (10/15-10/21). The last time FNC was #1 for the week was the week of the 2012 GOP convention 8/27/12-9/2/12, which included three nights of primetime coverage. FNC, outpaced ESPN and USA Network in primetime hours, averaging 3.7 million viewers.
Additionally, FNC had the #2 telecast in all of cable behind Monday Night Football on ESPN which delivered 12.8 million viewers from 8:30-11:51pm to FNC’s Presidential Debate which delivered 11.1 million viewers from 9-10:39pm, which came in ahead of The Walking Dead's premiere which drew 10.9 million viewers.
In Primetime, FNC had its highest-rated week in total viewers since the week of the Palin/Biden debate (9/29/08-10/5/08). Meanwhile, in prime, MSNBC ranked #6 and CNN at #16. In total day, MSNBC was #12 and CNN was #24. Rounding out the top 5 in cable in Primetime: FNC, ESPN, USA, TBS and History. In Total Day, the top five are: FNC, NICK, ADSM, ESPN and USA.
Its obvious CNN, MSNBC & CNBC are splitting the market share for Liberal minded people. The country is split and the numbers reflect it. Unfortunately, these networks are so intrenched in thier ideology that they can not react to the demands of the market. My prediction is a second Conservative network that will take some of Fox News share eventually.