All 124 Cable Channels Ranked by Average Viewership in 2021

Tony Maglio

December 17, 2021 at 2:30 PM·5 min read

Another year, another Fox News Channel viewer victory (on cable). Fox News was the most-watched basic-cable channel (of 124) in 2021, averaging 2.361 million primetime viewers each evening, according to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day data set. That number was down a whopping 35% from the 2020 average, but that’s what happens when you turn the calendar page over from an election year. Just ask the other guys: MSNBC, this year’s No. 3 channel, declined 28% and No. 4 CNN sank 39%.

ESPN (1.658 million, up 14%) welcomed live sports back in 2021, jumping from last year’s fourth-place cable channel in primetime to No. 2 this time around. The Top 4 channels are again cable’s main news and sports channels, the genres that live viewing favors.

TNT (No. 6) and TBS (No. 7) also benefited from the return of live sports — (basketball and baseball, respectively), and along with fourth-quarter giant Hallmark Channel (No. 8), leapfrogged TLC (No. 6 last year, now No. 9). This year’s Top 10 was comprised of the same channels as last year’s — just in a slightly different order.

No. 11 USA Network improved its standing, while Food Network declined. A&E, now without hit series “Live PD,” tumbled from 14th place to 19th place.

NBCU’s Bravo fell from 17th to 20th, while INSP, the religious-programming-turned-Western-programming cable channel recently profiled in this weekly ratings column, jumped from 16th to 12th. Lower down the list, the AMC Networks-owned weTV rose from 28th to 23rd.

But we know what you’re really here for: Did Comedy.TV finish in last place again? The answer: No! It toppled beIN Sports, the year’s new biggest loser.

Find last year’s rankings, which ranked 119 Nielsen-rated basic-cable channels, here.

The 2021 list is below, with viewer tallies in thousands (000). Nielsen counts anyone age 2 and older in its “total viewers” (P2+) data set. The numbers in this story are Calendar 2021 through Dec. 13, 2021.

1	FOX NEWS CHANNEL	2,361
2	ESPN	1,658
3	MSNBC	1,547
4	CNN	1,097
5	HOME AND GARDEN TV	1,089
6	TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION	1,020
7	TBS NETWORK	998
8	HALLMARK CHANNEL	973
9	TLC	824
10	HISTORY	780
11	USA NETWORK	764
12	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	754
12	INSP	754
14	FOOD NETWORK	710
15	INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY	587
16	LIFETIME TELEVISION	560
17	HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES	513
18	TV LAND	512
19	A&E NETWORK	496
20	BRAVO	487
21	FX	452
22	AMC	450
23	WETV	402
24	GSN	393
25	FREEFORM	391
26	SYFY	390
27	PARAMOUNT	389
28	ADULT SWIM	379
29	NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC	375
30	NICK-AT-NITE	350
31	ANIMAL PLANET	329
32	BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV	328
33	TRAVEL CHANNEL	322
34	ESPN2	303
35	MTV	292
36	COMEDY CENTRAL	291
37	FOX SPORTS 1	284
38	NFL NETWORK	280
39	NBC SPORTS NETWORK	274
39	OXYGEN MEDIA	274
41	E!	264
42	DISNEY JUNIOR	253
43	CMT	232
44	HLN	231
45	LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK	227
46	DISNEY CHANNEL	226
47	NICK JR	225
48	VH1	220
49	SCIENCE	212
50	SUNDANCE TV	209
51	CNBC	206
52	NAT GEO WILD	204
53	OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK	202
54	FETV	199
55	BBC-AMERICA	197
56	HBO PRIME	196
57	IFC TV	195
58	MOTOR TREND	194
59	FXX	191
60	NEWSMAX TV	186
61	TRUTV	185
62	THE WEATHER CHANNEL	176
63	TUDN	174
64	THE CARTOON NETWORK	173
65	DIY NETWORK	168
66	POP	154
67	COOKING CHANNEL	116
68	REELZCHANNEL	111
68	UP	111
70	MLB NETWORK	107
71	GOLF CHANNEL	106
72	GALAVISION	105
73	HALLMARK DRAMA	101
73	TV ONE	101
75	SMITHSONIAN	100
76	SHOWTIME PRIME	95
77	FX MOVIE CHANNEL	88
78	FYI	84
79	NBA-TV	83
80	DISNEY XD	80
81	BOOMERANG	76
82	VICE	74
83	AMERICAN HEROES CHANNEL	71
84	UNIVERSO	67
85	NICKTOONS	66
86	DESTINATION AMERICA	63
87	GAC FAMILY	61
88	OVATION	60
89	BIG TEN NETWORK	59
90	STARZ PRIMARY	58
91	DISCOVERY EN ESPANOL	56
92	RFD-TV	55
92	STARZ ENCORE PRIMARY	55
94	ESPNU	54
95	FOX BUSINESS NETWORK	51
95	MTV2	51
97	TENNIS CHANNEL	50
98	FOX DEPORTES	44
99	AXS TV	43
100	DISCOVERY FAMILY CHANNEL	41
101	LOGO	40
102	NEWSNATION	39
103	TEENNICK	35
104	BET HER	34
104	UNIVERSAL KIDS	34
106	DISCOVERY FAMILIA	33
106	DISCOVERY LIFE CHANNEL	33
108	MAXPRIME	27
109	ESPN DEPORTES	26
110	OLYMPIC CHANNEL	23
110	THE COWBOY CHANNEL	23
112	BABY FIRST TV	21
112	FOX SPORTS 2	21
114	CNN EN ESPANOL	15
115	FUSE	13
115	JUSTICE CENTRAL	13
117	CLEO TV	8
117	PURSUIT CHANNEL	8
119	ACCUWEATHER	7
120	BEIN SPORT ESPANOL	6
120	NEWSY	6
122	BLACK NEWS CHANNEL	4
122	COMEDY.TV	4
124	BEIN SPORT	3

Fox News Channel was also No. 1 in terms of total-day (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.) viewers, marking the sixth straight year the conservative-leaning news channel topped all of cable in both primetime and the 24-hour day. The rest of the Top 10 in all-day programming were, in order: MSNBC, CNN, ESPN, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, ID, Food Network, TNT and INSP.

In terms of adults 18-49, here’s how the Top 10 stacks up in primetime:

ESPN
TNT
TBS
USA Network
Fox News Channel
Food Network
Adult Swim
TLC
HGTV
CNN/Discovery Channel (tie)

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