Cable TV News Network Ratings: Fox On Top, July Sees Double-Digit Declines

Major cable TV news networks continue their expected post-Presidential election period declines in ratings -- down from 34% to 43% in July prime-time viewing versus a year ago.

Fox News Channel remains on top -- down 34% in Nielsen live-plus-same day time-shifted viewing to average 2.12 million prime-time viewers.

MSNBC has lost 37% to land at 1.31 million viewers, while CNN has fallen the most with a 43% decline to 856,000.

Compared to the second-quarter 2021 April-June period, all three have slipped a bit, with Fox at 2.18 million viewers; MSNBC at 1.46 million; and CNN at 914,000.

Total day July results went much in the same direction as prime time, with Fox News Channel remaining on top but down 27% versus July 2020 to 1.2 million viewers, MSNBC losing 35% to 772,000 viewers, and CNN falling 40% to 596,000.

The top five news shows are Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (3.0 million); Fox’s “Hannity” (2.7 million); Fox’s “The Five” (2.5 million); MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” (2.3 million); and Fox's “The Ingraham Angle” (2.1 million).

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2 comments about "Cable TV News Network Ratings: Fox On Top, July Sees Double-Digit Declines".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, July 28, 2021 at 9:25 a.m.

    Wayne---a suggestion. A lot of people who read articles like this mistake the information as indicating a continuing decline---like month to month in the current year---as opposed to what you are actually saying, namely that the data are being compared to the same month last year. The solution---which minimizes such confusion---is to also note the year-to-date figures. If these also show the same percentage deline---that means that the latest month's ratings were not down more than what has been seen this year; if, on the other hand, the latest month's declines are greater than the recent year-to-date trend, that's a really significant point. The year-to-date figures should be readily available to any Nielsen subscriber.

  2. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, July 28, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.

    Just to clarify, I realize that the last quarter's audience estimates were also provided in the article, but I believe that a more extensive trend analysis is also needed---like the last two quarters at the minimum.

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