CNN Press Room

CNN Smashes Ratings Records; Has Most-Watched Month on Record

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CNN RANKS #1 IN CABLE NEWS IN JANUARY ACROSS THE BOARD;

ALSO #1 IN ALL OF CABLE IN TOTAL DAY, M-SU PRIME TIME & DAYSIDE IN TOTAL VIEWERS

CNN Day Parts and Prime Time Programs Hit All-Time Highs

FOX Has Significant Ratings Declines in January  

Hannity & Ingraham Trail CNN in Both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54

Loses Huge Cable News Audience Share 

 

Since the presidential election and continuing through the new year, there has been an indisputable realignment in the cable news ratings landscape.

In January, CNN was the #1 cable news network in Total Day, M-Su Prime Time and Dayside in total viewers and adults 25-54.

In ALL of cable, CNN was #1 in Total Day and daytime in total viewers and the demo 25-54, and in #1 in M-Su prime among total viewers. January was CNN’s-most watched month on record across Total Day and dayside. This month, CNN’s audience grew triple digits, while Fox was down double digits vs. a year ago. And to underscore the sea change that has occurred in cable news ratings, CNN now has the largest share of the cable news audience, with Fox’s share declining dramatically.

For the month of January, MSNBC ranked #2 in Total Day, M-Su prime time and dayside in total viewers and adults 25-54.  Fox, the once long-time ratings leader, fell to third across all the dayparts in both total viewers and demos.  In fact, Fox’s rankings dropped to the network’s lowest in 20 years:

 

 

Weekday (M-F) Evening/Prime Time

CNN’s M-F evening/prime time programs all had their highest ratings on record in January. Fox, on the other hand, ranked #3 in total viewers in the M-F prime daypart for the first time in over 20 years (since September 1999) and among adults 25-54 (since September 2000).  Fox’s marquee prime time programs Hannity and Ingraham trailed CNN in total viewers.  In the key demo adults 25-54, CNN surpassed Tucker, Hannity and Ingraham. All of Fox’s prime time programs are down vs. a year ago.

Erin Burnett Outfront was #1 in cable news at 7pm in total viewers for the first time ever and the demo adults 25-54 for the 2nd consecutive month.  Anderson Cooper 360topped MSNBC’s All In in total viewers and ranked #1 in the demo 25-54 ahead of Tucker and All In at 8pm.  Cuomo Prime Time (9pm) was the most-watched program in all of cable news among adults 25-54.  The program overtook FNC’s Hannity in total viewers for the first time and is #1 in cable news in the demo adults 25-54 ahead MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and Hannity. CNN Tonight with Don Lemon outperformed FNC’s Ingraham for the first time in total viewers and was top-rated in the demo (25-54) surpassing both MSNBC’s Last Word and FNC’s Ingraham.

 

Share of Cable News:

Compared to the recent past, CNN has significantly grown its share of the cable news audience, while Fox’s audience share has declined precipitously.  In Total Day, Fox has gone from 43% of the cable news audience in 2019, to just 23% now; while CNN has increased from 29% to 49%. The trend holds for prime time and dayside:

 

Additional January News Program Highlights:

All of CNN programs had their highest ratings on record among total viewers and were up by high double to triple digits in both total viewers and adults 25-54 vs. last year.

New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman (6-9am) ranked #2 in the key demo adults 25-54 (285k), beating third place Fox & Friends (208k) for the first time since the program launched in 2013. MSNBC’s Morning Joe had 289k,  Early Start with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett (5-6am) ranked #1 among adults 25-54 (157k) and #2 in total viewers (598k) in the time period.

The Lead with Jake Tapper (4pm)  ranked #1 in cable news, beating MSNBC’s Deadline: The White House with Nicolle Wallace and FNC’s Your World with Neil Cavuto in the key demo 25-54 by wide margins (701k vs. 499k vs. 237k) for the third straight month.  The Tapper-led program also easily outperformed Fox once again in total viewers (2.789 million vs. 1.425 million) in January, also for the 3rd straight month.

The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer was #1 in cable news at 5pm in the key demo for the second consecutive month, averaging 726k, MSNBC followed with 544k and Fox’s The Fivelagged with 413k.  At 6pm, Sit Room ranked #1 in the demo adults 25-54 (715k) and #2 among total viewers (2.498 million), far exceeding Fox’s Special Report (384k/2.222m) and MSNBC’s The Beat in the 25-54 demo (432k).

 

Weekend Program Highlights:

During the weekend daypart (S/S) in both total day and primetime, CNN was #1 in total viewers and adults 25-54.  CNN’s weekend programs are hitting ratings highs and growing by triple digits compared to a year ago.

New Day Weekend with Christi Paul and Victor Blackwell ranked either #1 or #2 in cable news in total viewers and/or adults 25-54 during its respective time periods on Saturdays and Sundays January.  CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield, Ana Cabrera  and Pam Brown was #1 in total viewers and the demo adults 25-54 during their respective weekend time periods.  Smerconish (Saturdays 9am) ranked #1 in cable news surpassing both Fox and MSNBC in total viewers (1.508 million to 1.413m to 1.393m) and in the demo 25-54 (311k to 234k to 195k). The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer aired on weekends throughout January and ranked either #1 or #2 in cable news on Saturdays/Sundays among total viewers and adults 25-54.

 

CNN’s Sunday morning programs are all having their highest ratings ever, growing by double digits vs. last year.

 

CNN Special Reports Highlights: 

 

 Additional January Highlights:  

 

Median Age, Cross Platform and Reach:

 

Digital-to-TV Lift:  

  

Out of Home Lift:

 

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