Cable Ratings: Fox News Channel Picks Up 10th Straight Weekly Win

News network holds off ESPN, Nickelodeon

Rupert Murdoch Fox News
TheWrap

Fox News Channel was the most-watched basic cable network among total viewers for the 10th consecutive week after averaging 1.5 million viewers for the week of March 6-12.

Fox News held off Nickelodeon’s 1.2 million average among total viewers, while HGTV, MSNBC and ESPN failed to surpass the one-million viewer plateau despite rounding out the top five. Last year, Fox News was No. 1 for 14 straight weeks leading up to Election Day. However, it is the first time in network history that Fox News is No. 1 in both total day and primetime for eight consecutive weeks.

Fox News was also the most-watched network during primetime, averaging 2.5 million viewers between 8-11 p.m. ESPN finished No. 2, averaging 1.7 million primetime viewers. MSNBC, HGTV and Discovery join FNC and ESPN among the top five.

Fox News’ cable rival CNN finished No. 11 in primetime, averaging 1.1 million and No. 8 in total day, averaging 778,000. CNN has now been among the top 10 networks among total viewers for nine straight weeks, marking the network’s longest streak in over 15 years.

The last time CNN had a longer streak was the immediate weeks following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

ESPN was lifted by the ACC Championship basketball game, and MSNBC has been on a primetime surge thanks to Rachel Maddow, but neither one could surpass Fox News. “The O’Reilly Factor” had three of the top five telecasts, while FNC programs made up 11 of the top 25 telecasts on basic cable last week.

Murdoch’s other network, Fox Business, is also on a roll. FBN averaged 191,000 viewers compared to 155,000 for CNBC to defeat its rival during Business Day programming. Fox Business has beaten CNBC three times in the past four weeks.

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