Fox News Channel dominated cable news last week with 95 of the 100 most-watched telecasts.
Fox News averaged 1.5 million total viewers from May 2-8, while TNT finished second with an average of 835,000 viewers. MSNBC averaged 631,000 and CNN settled for 478,000 as Fox News beat their combined audiences. It was the 18th straight week that Fox News finished as the most-watched basic cable network.
During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., only NBA Playoffs-heavy TNT outdrew Fox News’ 2.3 million average viewership. MSNBC failed to crack the one-million viewer average, finishing fifth, while CNN failed to finish among the ten most-watched cable networks. It was MSNBC’s least-watched, non-holiday week since 2016. "The Five" averaged 3.3 million viewers to finish as the most-watched show on cable news, also finishing second in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54 with 465,000 demo viewers.
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 517,000 demo viewers to win the critical category and 3.2 million total viewers to finish second overall, while "Hannity" finished third in both categories with 2.7 million viewers and 416,000 among the demo.
"Gutfeld!" averaged 2.1 million viewers and 362,000 among the demo to outdraw NBC’s "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" and ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in both categories. But it wasn’t only evening offerings that made up 95 of the 100 most-watched cable news shows last week, as daytime programs also thrived. America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "Outnumbered" and "The Faulkner Focus" all outdrew free TV mainstays such as CBS’ "The Talk," NBC’s "Today with Hoda and Jenna" and ABC’s "GMA3."