Greg Gutfeld’s new late-night Fox News show premiered Monday night at the top of its time slot, at least where the cable news networks are concerned. In fact, it doubled CNN’s 11 p.m. ET total viewership.
“Gutfeld!” pulled in an average of 1.681 million total viewers, according to early Nielsen Media Research ratings data. Of those, 318,000 were in the advertiser-coveted age demographic of 25 to 54.
By comparison, the second hour of CNN’s “CNN Tonight,” which also airs at 11, averaged 678,000 total viewers and 190,000 demo viewers. On MSNBC, where Brian Williams was hosting “The 11th Hour,” an average of 1.211 million viewers tuned in. Of those, 183,000 were in the key demo.
In an interview with TheWrap last week, Gutfeld said his real target is broadcast TV’s late-night offerings — and Fox News even took out a billboard for the new show outside L.A’s El Capitain Theatre where “Jimmy Kimmel Live” tapes.
Ratings for broadcast networks’ programming won’t be available until Wednesday, but per the Nielsen data, “Gutfeld!” topped most of the broadcast late-night shows’ year-to-date averages so far — with the notable exception of Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on CBS. (It’s worth noting that “Gutfeld!” airs at 8 p.m. PT on the West Coast, and does not repeat at 11 p.m. when the broadcast networks’ late-night shows are on.)
The debut episode was also an improvement over the network’s predecessor in the timeslot, “Fox News @ Night” with host Shannon Bream. “Fox News @ Night” has averaged 1.3 million viewers so far this year, of whom 265,000 were between 25 and 54.
Bream’s show was bumped back to midnight following the “Gutfeld!” premiere and averaged 879,000 viewers on its first day in its new slot (with 187,000 in the demo). In the 12 a.m. ET time slot, CNN runs a repeat of its 8 p.m. ET “Anderson Cooper 360.”
While Bream’s new late-late show premiered at its new time, CNN’s “Cooper” repeat garnered 562,000 total average viewers and 161,000 demo viewers. MSNBC replays “The Rachel Maddow Show” at that time and beat both Fox News and CNN in total viewers, pulling in an average of 888,000 average viewers. The “Maddow” repeat was in last place in the demo, though, with 125,000 average viewers between 25 and 54.