The Tuesday cable ratings were disrupted massively by the State of the Union, which consumed the top 7 slots for the night. Fox News benefitted the most from the event, netting the first and second slot with a peak rating of 1.5 in adults 18-49.
This was 0.4 lower than the speech’s performance last year on the same network. CNN coverage scored a 0.8, taking third place with a loss of 0.1 from the previous SOTU. MSNBC’s highest entry on the chart was in ninth place, with a 0.7 coming from the Democratic Response. This was an improvement on the 0.5 the rebuttal accrued last year.
Moving on from politics, “The Curse of Oak Island” had its run at the top of the Tuesday charts broken, dropping to eighth place for a 0.7 rating. This was one-tenth of a point lower than its score last week. “WWE Smackdown” on USA suffered similarly, falling from 0.7 to 0.6 to take the tenth slot.
Other entries barely made the chart. “The Haves and the Have Nots” on OWN dropped from 0.4 to 0.3, while “Chopped” on Food Network managed to cling to its 0.3. TLC’s “I Am Jazz” also fell from 0.4 to 0.3, and Bravo’s “Below Deck” took a hit down to 0.5. Lifetime’s “Married at First Sight” was unaffected, however, maintaining an identical 0.4 to its previous score.
Top 25 original cable shows among adults 18-49 for Tuesday, February 5, 2019
| Show | Net | Time | Total viewers (000s) | 18-49 rating |
| STATE OF THE UNION 2019 | FOX NEWS | 9:07 PM | 11,266 | 1.5 |
| ST UNION/REP RESPONSE | FOX NEWS | 10:39 PM | 7,885 | 1.0 |
| STATE OF THE UNION 2019 | CNN | 9:07 PM | 3,471 | 0.8 |
| ST UNION/ANALYSIS | FOX NEWS | 10:50 PM | 6,098 | 0.8 |
| SOTU DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE | CNN | 10:40 PM | 3,384 | 0.8 |
| STATE OF UNION ANALYSIS | CNN | 10:30 PM | 3,428 | 0.8 |
| STATE OF UNION ANALYSIS | CNN | 10:50 PM | 3,253 | 0.7 |
| CURSE OF OAK ISLAND | HISTORY | 9:00 PM | 3,123 | 0.7 |
| DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE | MSNBC | 10:40 PM | 4,776 | 0.7 |
| WWE SMACKDOWN: WWE SMACKDOWN | USA | 8:00 PM | 1,841 | 0.6 |
| MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE | MSNBC | 10:50 PM | 4,691 | 0.6 |
| MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE | MSNBC | 10:30 PM | 4,378 | 0.6 |
| BELOW DECK | BRAVO | 9:00 PM | 1,242 | 0.5 |
| HANNITY | FOX NEWS | 11:00 PM | 3,811 | 0.5 |
| STATE OF THE UNION ADD | MSNBC | 9:00 PM | 3,785 | 0.5 |
| TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT | FOX NEWS | 8:00 PM | 4,795 | 0.5 |
| AC360 POST SOTU ANALYSIS | CNN | 11:00 PM | 2,295 | 0.5 |
| 11TH HOUR W/B. WILLIAMS | MSNBC | 11:00 PM | 3,172 | 0.4 |
| BODY CAM | INVESTIGATION | 10:00 PM | 1,169 | 0.4 |
| MARRIED AT FIRST ST | LIFETIME | 9:00 PM | 963 | 0.4 |
| COLLEGE BKBL REG SSN – BOSTON COLLEGE/DUKE | ESPN | 7:00 PM | 1,023 | 0.3 |
| I AM JAZZ | TLC | 9:00 PM | 1,245 | 0.3 |
| CHOPPED | FOOD | 9:00 PM | 972 | 0.3 |
| HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS | OPRAH | 9:00 PM | 1,547 | 0.3 |
| ANDERSON COOPER 360 | CNN | 8:00 PM | 1,688 | 0.3 |
Source: The Nielsen Company
