Fox News Channel was the top network across the entire cable realm for the month of May, according to Nielsen Media Research — besting the most popular non-news competition like TNT, ESPN and HGTV. In real time, Fox News has enjoyed the most total daytime viewers on cable for 23 months, or almost two years.
But the network is in it for the long march. Fox News continues to best rivals MSNBC and CNN as the most-watched cable news channel among daytime and prime time viewers for 197 consecutive months. Translated, that is almost 16 years — or close to 6,000 days. That is a staggering amount of time to fill 24/7 — but fill it they do, and in ways that win loyalty, and transforms the network into a daily destination for millions.
Audience numbers tell the story.
In the daytime, Fox News averages 1.4 million viewers, compared to 914,000 for MSNBC and 655,000 for CNN. In the all-important prime-time hours, Fox News garners 2.4 million, compared to 1.7 million for MSNBC and CNN’s 835,000.
Overall, Fox News claimed 10 of the top 15 cable news programs on the airwaves, with “Hannity” leading the way with 3.3 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” (2.6 million), “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (2.6 million), “The Ingraham Angle” (2.6 million) and “The Five” (2.2 million) and “Special Report with Bret Baier” (2.1 million).
The network has garnered some handsome press with its latest victory. Among the headlines: “Fox News steamrolls cable news competition with big win” (Forbes); “Hannity-led Fox News dominates cable news rivals” (Mediaite.com); “Fox dominates May’s top cable news shows” (The Hill); “CNN ratings: prime-time audience collapses 25 percent in May” (Breitbart News).
Things are rosy over at the Fox Business Network as well, which is now marking a year as the No. 1 business news network in the nation according to Nielsen ratings numbers, with a 13 percent advantage over rival CNBC. “Lou Dobbs Tonight” has been the leading program on business television for the last two years, while “Varney & Co” continues its reign as the top stock market analysis program across all basic cable. Additionally, the network notched the top-four rated news programs on business television in total viewers.
ABC’S BIG ‘ROSEANNE’ BILL
“The abrupt cancellation of ‘Roseanne’ will not come cheap. Although the decision was widely viewed as necessary given the racist nature of star Roseanne Barr’s social media attack on senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, several sources with knowledge of the situation suggest that ABC and parent company Disney could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars,” reports Lacey Rose, television editor for The Hollywood Reporter....
“And that doesn’t include the foregone ad revenue,” she notes, citing an industry report for Kantar Media revealing that the revival of the 1990s-era sitcom was expected to drive some $60