Weekly Cable Ratings: Fox News Recaptures Primetime, Total-Day Crowns

R. Thomas Umstead
·1 min read
The Five.
The Five.

Fox News Channel found its way back to the top spot of the cable ratings charts, ending a two-week run at the top by football-powered ESPN.

Fox News averaged 1.7 million viewers in primetime for the week of September 18-24 to top all cable networks, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News. ESPN finished second with 1.5 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.2 million watchers.

HGTV pulled into fourth with 864,000 viewers, while Hallmark Channel settled into fifth place with 734,000 viewers. TBS and TLC tied for sixth with 649,000 viewers, followed by INSP (637,000 viewers), Food Network (570,000) and USA Network (535,000).

Fox News’s average of 1 million total-day viewers was enough to secure sole possession of first place after tying ESPN for first place on the chart last week. MSNBC was second with 801,000 viewers, followed by ESPN (704,000), HGTV (442,000) and CNN (419,000), according to Nielsen.