Fox News Notches Its Highest-Rated Prime-Time Month Ever
February was a record-shattering month for Fox News, which soared to an all-time prime-time high in the ratings.
Fox averaged 2 million viewers during the day and 3.5 million viewers in prime time, according to a network news release, which cited Nielsen Media Research.
For Fox, February was its 44th straight month leading basic cable in total viewership and the 218th time it topped the other cable news networks in total day and prime-time viewers.
Fox’s dominance was never clearer than on the night President Donald Trump gave his State of the Union address, when the network’s coverage of speech was the month’s top cable telecast, with 11,684,000 viewers.
The network’s roaring came as its rivals whimpered.
Fox saw a 35 percent increase in total prime-time viewers over February 2019, while CNN saw its prime-time ratings dip by 3 percent and MSNBC took a 9 percent tumble.
In the key 25-54 age group that advertisers covet, Fox was up 27 percent in prime time, while CNN dropped 6 percent and MSNBC fell 7 percent.
That is because they cover your favorite President relatively well. @CNN & MSDNC are dying in the ratings! https://t.co/dhlZlbyg2N
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2020
Fox’s prime-time lineup sparkled, with Tucker Carlson’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” averaging 4 million viewers in a month (4,115,000, to be specific) for the first time ever.
The only cable news show to top Carlson was Sean Hannity’s “Hannity,” with an average of 4.3 million viewers. For Hannity, this marked 11 straight months of being the most-watched cable news show among both overall viewers and the key 25-54 demographic.
This is for you Real Democrats:
Stop watching MSNBC.
DO NOT GIVE MSNBC THE RATINGS.
CUT THEIR ADVERTISING INCOME. NOW.They are the LEFT version of FOXNEWS and they are erasing all candidates except Bernie.
— citybythelake (@citybythelake) February 24, 2020
Sean Hannity and Fox News Prime Time Just Got Their Highest Ratings Ever in February https://t.co/I6Jc8gAnvA
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 25, 2020
Laura Ingraham’s “The Ingraham Angle” averaged 3.6 million viewers.
Ingraham’s success in February made her the record holder for the most-watched female host in cable news history.
All three prime-time shows scored massive increases over February 2019.
Carlson’s ratings were up 33 percent and Hannity’s rose 36 percent. However, the host with the greatest increase was Ingraham, whose ratings saw a 47 percent jump over February 2019
Overall, 13 Fox shows hit all-time highs in February. including “Outnumbered Overtime” with Harris Faulkner, “The Daily Briefing” with Dana Perino, “The Five,” “The Story” with Martha MacCallum, “Watters World” hosted by Jesse Watters and “Justice with Judge Jeanine” featuring Jeanine Pirro.
ICYMI: Here is my Opening Statement from Saturday night! pic.twitter.com/eoxrrODCIV
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) February 25, 2020
Fox also had 13 of the 15 top-rated cable news shows.
In its news release, Fox stressed its daytime dominance.
Fox averaged 1,948,000 viewers for its daytime programming, more than the combined viewership of CNN (683,000) and MSNBC (997,000).
Among its daytime shows, “Fox & Friends” racked up its 220th month as the top cable news program in the 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern time slot, averaging 1.8 million viewers.
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