The new primetime rollout on Fox News last night performed very well against their competitors, which is mainly MSNBC right now. CNN did the absolute worst last night:
THE WRAP – Fox News dominated its first night in the post-Bill O’Reilly era as “Tucker Carlson Tonight” averaged 3.2 million viewers in the program’s first night occupying the 8 p.m. ET time slot.
The debut of Carlson’s new show in O’Reilly’s former slot was the most-watched cable news program in both viewers and the key news demo of adults age 25-54.
Carlson averaged 636,000 viewers among the key demo to help Fox News finish as the most-watched cable news network during prime time, averaging 582,000 compared to 328,000 demo viewers for CNN and 424,000 demo viewers for MSNBC.
Among total viewers, Fox News averaged 2.8 million from 8-11 p.m. ET while MSNBC averaged 1.8 million and CNN failed to crack the one-million viewer mark. Carlson began his program with a message to viewers who made “The O’Reilly Factor” the most-watched show in cable news for nearly two decades.
“The Five” also beat it competition in the first night it occupied the 9 p.m. ET time slot, averaging 2.8 million viewers compared to 2.2 million for MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” CNN averaged 881,000 viewers, finishing third. Among the key demo, “The Five” averaged 568,000 viewers compared to Maddow’s 524,000. CNN finished third, averaging 305,000 viewers between the age 25-54.
Last night was the first night, so we’ll know going forward if Carlson can keep his ratings as high as BillO did.
I kinda hate the fact that Megyn Kelly isn’t in the 8pm slot, because she was the only one I enjoyed watching. But I don’t want to keep crying over spilled milk.
I expect The Five will continue to do well, as it’s a nice alternative to normal news programming in the evening hours.