MSNBC Claims Top Spot in Cable Weekday Primetime Viewers for First Time Ever
MSNBC scored an historic victory last week, finishing as the number one cable network in weekday primetime total viewers for the first time in the network’s 21-year history, according to Nielsen data.
From July 17-21, MSNBC averaged 2.34 million viewers from 8-11 p.m., topping its nearest cable news competitor, Fox News (2.25 million). MSNBC was previously the number one cable news network in weekday prime during the weeks of May 15, 2017 and September 3, 2012 among total viewers, but this was the first time MSNBC was number one among all of cable.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (9-10pm) also bested both Fox News and CNN among total viewers for the fourth straight week in 9-10pm time period. Among cable news, last week marked MSNBC’s 29th weekly win in 30 weeks in Monday-Friday primetime over CNN with total viewers this year.
MSNBC has seen a major surge in its ratings ever since the election of President Donald Trump, much like “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which also recently scored a historic ratings win over “The Tonight Show.”
When looking at the Monday-Sunday numbers, Fox News was number one in primetime total viewers with 1.93 million and number one in total day with 1.22 million among cable news networks. MSNBC was second in both timeframes with 1.84 million in primetime and 955,000 in total day. CNN finished third with 952,000 in primetime and 680,000 in total day.
Fox News has been the top cable news network in total day for 29 consecutive weeks. Additionally, in primetime, Fox News has now been the most-watched cable network in all of basic cable for nine weeks in a row on a Monday-Sunday basis.
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