National TV News Channels See Big Viewing Gains, CNN Soars

National cable TV news networks have seen sharp Nielsen-measured viewership gains due to COVID-19 news -- with CNN posting the best percentage gains in prime time and total day viewership.

For the week ending March 15, CNN is up 156% to 2.85 million prime-time viewers year-over-year.

Fox News Channel added 51% to 3.59 million -- tops among all cable TV news networks and cable TV channels overall. MSNBC was 26% higher to 2.35 million.

CNN also jumped 107% in total day viewership to 1.32 million, while Fox News Channel was up 45% to 1.99 million -- also in the lead among all cable TV networks. MSNBC grew 24% to 1.3 million.

All TV news channels were also higher versus the previous week. Fox News Channel was at 3.26 million for week ending March 8 in prime time, with MSNBC at 2.1 million and CNN at 1.35 million.

For total day viewing during that week, Fox News Channel came in at 1.79 million, with MSNBC at 1.1 million and CNN at 844,000.

Next story loading loading..