CNN Press Room

CNN #1 IN CABLE NEWS IN OCTOBER

First Time in 15 Years CNN Has Beaten Fox News in Both Total Day AND Prime Time Demos 

 CNN Beats Fox News for First Time in Seven Years in Total Day Demo

CNN Beats Fox News for 7th Time in Last 14 Months in Prime Time Demo

 Tops MSNBC for 28th Straight Month

CNN Has Its Most-Watched Month in 11 Years

CNN dominated cable news in October, finishing the month as the undisputed leader.

With the presidential election coming to a close, CNN finished number one in October in the all-important demo of adults 25-54 in total day and M-Su prime time. This marks the first time in 15 years that CNN was #1 across both dayparts.  In Total Day, CNN beat Fox News for the first time in seven years (since Jan. 2009). In prime time (M-Su), CNN was number one among adults 25-54 for the 7th time in the last 14 months (Oct-16, Jul-16, Apr-16, Feb-16, Dec-15, Oct-15 and Sept-15). The last time CNN had this many monthly wins over Fox News in a 14-month period was nearly 15 years ago.

And, CNN has now topped MSNBC for 28 straight months in Total Day (25-54 and P2+) and in prime time (25-54), the longest winning streak in eight years.

October was also CNN’s most-watched month in eight years (since 2008) in Total Day among adults 25-54 and CNN enjoyed its highest total viewer delivery since September 2005.  In prime time, CNN posted its highest adults 25-54 delivery and 2nd highest total viewer delivery since October 2008.  The network had impressive growth this month as well, increasing its audience by double to triple digits compared to last year.

Of particular note, CNN ranked in the Top Five in ALL OF CABLE in October among total viewers (#3 in Total Day and prime time) and adults 25-54 (#5 in Total Day and #4 in prime time).

Several CNN news programs are on a ratings streak this month, beating both Fox News and MSNBC while also posting record deliveries and growth among adults 25-54.  Weekday programs ranking #1 are:  Early StartNewsroom with Brooke Baldwin, and Erin Burnett Outfront.  OutfrontAnderson Cooper 360 and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon all posted their highest adults 25-54 ratings ever. In fact, these are the best ratings for CNN at 7pm since November 2008, 8pm since October 2008 and at 10pm since March 2011.

This is the first time ever that Erin Burnett Outfront has beaten Fox’s On the Record at 7pm.  In fact, this is the first time in 15 years that CNN has won the demo during the 7pm time period.  CNN has cut the monthly P2+ percent gap with Fox News during the M-F 7pm hour to its smallest in nearly eight years.

Also, CNN won the demos at 2pm and 3pm (Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin) for three of the last five months.

In addition, CNN’s morning program New Day posted its highest numbers ever and CNN’s early morning news program, Early Start with John Berman and Christine Romans, was number one for the month among adults 25-54.

CNN’s weekend news programs were also #1 in the key demo 25-54 and those include State of the Union with Jake Tapper, Fareed Zakaria: GPS, Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter and Smerconish.  CNN was also top rated during weekend prime time with Original Series programming led by Anthony Bourdain and Lisa Ling this month. Both of those programs are enjoying their best seasons ever.

MONTHLY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

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Primetime:

Saturdays:

Sundays:

MONTHLY ORIGINAL SERIES AND CNN FILMS HIGHLIGHTS

CNN Original Series

CNN Films

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