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Fox News regained control of the top spot on cable TV last week, according to Nielsen, ending MSNBC’s rare run as the nation’s largest cable network earlier this month, a sudden surge for the left-wing network boosted by the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump. and Tucker Carlson’s abrupt departure from Fox News.
The Fox News logo is seen on a reporter’s microphone in Przemysl, Poland, March 5, 2022. (Photo by … [+]
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Key factors
Fox News averaged 1,064,000 viewers throughout the day from June 12 to June 18, with MSNBC averaging 856,000 viewers and CNN averaging 628,000, according to data released by Nielsen, extending the streak from Fox News as the top-rated cable television channel for the total day. ratings, a position he has held throughout the year.
Fox News also topped MSNBC in primetime last week, averaging 1,536,000 viewers to MSNBC’s 1,397,000 and CNN’s 800,000, after MSNBC dethroned Fox News in primetime a week earlier in the middle of Trump impeachment coverage.
Cable’s top four shows last week included three showings of Fox News’ talk show The Five and a Hannity slot, the former of which took the top spot, averaging nearly 3 million viewers on Tuesday evening, hours after Trump arrived. in a federal court in Miami to stand trial on 37 criminal charges.
MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, which airs on Mondays, rounded out The Five and Hannity in fifth place and averaged 2.6 million viewers.
Trump’s impeachment boosted cable ratings for the day, with MSNBC’s 3pm show on Tuesday drawing more viewers than its Fox News counterpart (2.3 million vs. 1.7 million), but Fox News aired Trump’s post-impeachment speech live at 8 p.m., earning 2.413 billion. viewers compared to 2.356 million on MSNBC, which did not air Trump’s speech.
Even on the night of the impeachment, news did not dominate every time slot: the final game of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals began on TNT around the same time as coverage of the impeachment on Fox and MSNBC at 8 p.m., and managed to pull in 2.468 million viewers, plus. average ratings than the two programs.
tangent
Political commentator Geraldo Rivera is distancing himself from The Five, citing “tension that goes beyond editorial differences” in a Wednesday interview with The Five. Associated Press. Rivera was one of the programs that turned the liberal voices and will have his last scheduled appearance on the talk show next week.
key fund
MSNBC managed to topple Fox News earlier this month when it took advantage of coverage of Trump’s indictment on charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after his presidency. MSNBC’s narrow beating of Fox News in early June snapped the conservative network’s 120-week No. 1 streak. The streak was snapped shortly after Fox News removed former primetime anchor Tucker Carlson from its lineup, a move that sparked a audience drop. Carlson’s show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, was one of Fox News’ most popular shows during its seven-year run, but it faced near-constant controversy due to Carlson’s incendiary comments. The former Fox News host now directs a pre-recorded independent show on Twitter, which has five episodes starting Thursday.
To read more
MSNBC tops Fox News in primetime last week amid Trump impeachment, ending Fox’s streak (Forbes)
Trump impeachment: Here’s when he’ll appear in court and why you’ll have to wait to find out (Forbes)
