Media top headlines February 8
In media news today, a CNN panel bashes Stacey Abrams over a maskless photo at school, Spotify CEO’s apology letter to employees over Joe Rogan gets slammed as contradictory, and James Carville says he wants to punch unvaccinated people in the face.
Fox News Channel demolished MSNBC and CNN last week, outdrawing the liberal networks combined among both total day and primetime viewers for the 25th straight week.
Fox News averaged 1.5 million viewers from Jan. 31 through Feb. 6 to finish as the most-watched network on basic cable, finishing as the only option to surpass the one-million viewer mark. USA averaged 811,000 to finish second and MSNBC’s average viewership of 690,000 came in third. CNN settled for a dismal 467,000 to finish behind Investigation Discovery, Hallmark, INSP, ESPN and HGTV for ninth place.
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" finished as the most-watched show on cable news among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54. (Fox news)
ACOSTA'S FORAY INTO CNN’S PRIMETIME LINEUP STRUGGLES TO ATTRACT VIEWERS
CNN struggled even more during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., attracting less than a quarter of Fox News’ viewership.
Fox News averaged 2.5 million prime viewers to finish No. 1 in basic cable, followed by second-place USA with 1.4 million. MSNBC averaged 1.3 million viewers to finish third while CNN attracted only 555,000 primetime viewers to finish No. 18 among basic cable.
TV Land, A&E, Lifetime, Food Network and TLC are among the 17 basic cable offerings that outdrew CNN’s primetime staples Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon.
Fox News had its most-watched week of 2022 among both total day and primetime viewers, securing 58% of all cable news viewers.
"Jesse Watters Primetime" continued to thrive in its second week, finishing as the third most-watched show in cable news with three million viewers.
Fox News viewership grew 22% compared to the same week in 2021, while MSNBC lost 49% of its audience and CNN shed a staggering 63% of viewers. "The Five" averaged 3.63 million viewers to finish as the most-watched show in cable news, followed by "Tucker Carlson Tonight" with an average audience of 3.61 million.
"The Five" and "Tucker" both beat out ABC’s heavily promoted "The Bachelor" among total viewers. "Tucker" also finished as the most-watched show on cable news among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 593,000 demo viewers.
"Jesse Watters Primetime" continued to thrive in its second week, finishing as the third-most-watched show in cable news with three million viewers. "Hannity" averaged 2.95 million viewers and "Special Report" attracted 2.5 million to secure FNC offerings sweeping the top five.
CNN’s "New Day" averaged only 394,000 viewers compared to 1.3 million for "FOX & Friends." (CNN screenshot )
"Gutfeld!" averaged two million viewers for its best week of the year, while "FOX & Friends" averaged 1.3 million to dominate morning programs on CNN and MSNBC.
CNN’s "New Day," which was the brainchild of recently ousted CNN boss Jeff Zucker, attracted only 394,000 total viewers. "FOX & Friends" has now topped cable news morning show viewership for 46 straight weeks.
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