NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 26: Host Jesse Watters speaks as Dr. Phil visits “Jesse Watters … [+]
Propelled by shows like Jesse Watters Primetime and The Five delivering over four million viewers, Fox News Channel will end February with its highest-rated start to the year ever, with several programs setting all-time high monthly ratings. For the first two months of the year, Fox is averaging 2.8 million viewers in prime time–with viewership up 40 percent year-over-year.
Among viewers 25-54, the key demographic valued by advertisers, Fox drew 353,000 viewers in prime, representing a huge jump of 61 percent from the same period one year ago. Both CNN and MSNBC saw all-time lows in the key demo in January.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 28: Jeanine Pirro, Jessica Tarlov, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino and Greg … [+]
February blowout
In February, Fox News cruised to a dominant first-place finish with an average total audience of 3.091 million viewers in prime, with MSNBC a distant second (734,000 viewers) and CNN third overall with 522,000 viewers. In the key demo, FNC was first with 387,000 viewers, followed by CNN (118,000 viewers) and MSNBC (63,000 viewers).
For total day ratings, Fox led in February with an average audience of 1.999 million viewers and 252,000 viewers in the key demo. MSNBC drew 506,000 total viewers (45,000 in the demo), and CNN had 421,000 total viewers and edged out MSNBC in the key demo with 80,000 viewers.
The five highest-rated shows in cable news in February were all on Fox, with The Five drawing the largest single audience (4.699 million viewers), followed by Jesse Watters Primetime (4.186 million viewers), Hannity (3.597 million viewers), Special Report with Bret Baier (3.585 million viewers), and The Ingraham Angle (3.485 million viewers).
In the key demo, Fox swept the top five as well, with Jesse Watters Primetime finishing first (518,000 viewers), followed by The Five (517,000 viewers), Hannity (467,000 viewers), Gutfeld! (466,000 viewers), and The Ingraham Angle (427,000 viewers).
All-time highs posted in daytime and late night
Several Fox News shows had their highest-rated month ever in February, including Gutfeld!, which drew 3.4 million total viewers, and the afternoon newscast America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith, which had a total audience of 2.5 million viewers.
Fox’s recently-launched The Will Cain Show averaged 2.8 million total viewers and 337,000 viewers in the key demo, marking the network’s two highest-rated months ever in the 4 p.m. ET time slot. The show has also posted impressive gains, climbing 81 percent from FNC’s performance in the hour one year ago.
Final ratings data–compiled by Nielsen–will be released later today.
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