Fox News Draws Biggest Ratings Quarter Ever, CNN Prime Time Sees Massive Surge in Viewership

 

March has been one of the most disruptive months in the media industry in recent years. And while ad spending across the board is down, cable news ratings are way up, with networks drawing massive TV audiences in the first quarter for 2020.

The first three months of 2020 have felt like an eternity in news, with stories ranging from President Donald Trump’s impeachment to the 2020 election to the global health crisis that has talent at all cable networks broadcasting shows from their makeshift home studios.

According to data from Nielsen Media Research, Fox News had their highest-rated quarter in network history. The network boasted 10 of the top 15 cable news shows in the 25-54 demo. Sean Hannity’s prime time show averaged 4,220,000 viewers, Tucker Carlson drew 4,005,000, The Five drew 3,558,000, Laura Ingraham drew 3,551,000, and Bret Baier’s Special Report scored 3,129,000.

The daily average for the quarter shows that Fox drew about the ratings of CNN and MSNBC combined, for while they drew 1,930,000 viewers, CNN got 901,000 viewers while MSNBC had 1,095,000. In prime time, Fox had 3,387,000 viewers, CNN drew 1,427,000 and MSNBC had 1,928,000. Fox Business also saw its highest rated quarter ever.

Even though Fox remains king of the hill, its worth noting that CNN nearly doubled their viewership from March 2019. The network’s daytime viewership was up a whopping 88 percent from March last year, and prime time saw an even bigger surge, up by 109 percent.

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