MSNBC Crushes Fox News & CNN During Jan. 6 Hearings

The first session of the Jan. 6 House Select Committee hearings finally aired on Thursday night and one of the big questions on everyone’s mind was put to rest: Will they flop in prime time?

As the ratings for the cable news networks show, the hearings were a success. MSNBC topped Fox News in terms of total viewers, averaging 3.95 million across prime time.

Fox averaged a total of 2.92 million total viewers for its counter-programming, which is a small boost from the night before, which brought in some 2.58 million total viewers.

CNN, along with MSNBC, beat Fox News in the key 25-54 age demographic. CNN won the night with a big 733,000 demo viewers, while MSNBC had 573,000 and Fox landed in third with 537,000.

CNN also saw its total-viewer average skyrocket as the struggling network brought in 2.62 million total viewers – a major boost from its 517,000 average prime time viewers the night before.

The hearings were also a boon for Fox Business Network, which raked in 223,000 average viewers from 8 to 10 p.m., significantly topping competitor CNBC, which averaged 158,000 during the same hours.

In post-show coverage, Fox’s Jan. 6 hearings coverage anchored by Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, and Shannon Bream outpaced CNN from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. with 1.3 million total viewers compared to 841,000 for CNN.

Thursday ratings (8-11 p.m.):

CNN: 2.58 million

Fox News: 2.92 million

MSNBC: 3.95 million

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 733,000

Fox News: 537,000

MSNBC: 573,000

 

Wednesday ratings (8-11 p.m.):

CNN: 517,000

Fox News: 2.57 million

MSNBC: 1.18 million

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 146,000

Fox News: 410,000

MSNBC: 108,000

 

Here is a full breakdown of Thursday’s cable news ratings by show:

Total Viewers (thousands)

ET	FNC	CNN	MSNBC	NEWSMAX	NEWSNATION
6a	FOX AND FRIENDS: 1111	NEW DAY: 290	MORNING JOE: 768	DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY: 22	ELEMENTARY: 28
7a	FOX AND FRIENDS: 1522	NEW DAY: 376	—	WAKE UP AMERICA: 71	MORNING IN AMERICA: 28
8a	FOX AND FRIENDS: 1694	NEW DAY: 450	—	—	—
9a	AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 1730	CNN NEWSROOM: 482	MORNING JOE: 825	NATIONAL REPORT: 134	—
10a	AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 1626	CNN NEWSROOM: 531	JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS: 645	—	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 125
11a	FAULKNER FOCUS, THE: 1648	AT THIS HOUR: 540	MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 576	—	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 153
12p	OUTNUMBERED: 1867	INSIDE POLITICS: 597	ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 588	JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 175	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 230
1p	AMERICA REPORTS: 1521	CNN NEWSROOM: 642	CHRIS JANSING REPORTS: 591	—	BLUE BLOODS: 215
2p	AMERICA REPORTS: 1503	CNN NEWSROOM: 587	KATY TUR REPORTS: 627	AMERICAN AGENDA: 127	BLUE BLOODS: 228
3p	STORY, THE: 1331	CNN NEWSROOM: 558	HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS: 691	—	BLUE BLOODS: 249
4p	YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO: 1440	LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 610	DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE: 1211	ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE: 188	BLUE BLOODS: 295
5p	FIVE, THE: 3101	LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 652	—	CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 175	NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 181
6p	SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER: 2428	SITUATION ROOM: 703	BEAT W/ARI MELBER: 1397	SPICER & CO: 232	NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 82
7p	JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME: 2605	ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY: 1299	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 2436	GREG KELLY REPORTS: 284	ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 41
8p	TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT: 3324	—	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 4187	JAN. 6TH HEARING LIVE!: 137	NEWSNATION SPECIAL REPORT: 61
9p	HANNITY: 2801	—	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 4420	—	—
10p	INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE: 2641	—	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 3233	ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 140	—
11p	FOX NEWS AT NIGHT: 1631	DON LEMON TONIGHT: 1073	11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE: 1781	GREG KELLY REPORTS: 149	NN PRIME: SPECIAL REPORT: 38

25-54 Demo (thousands)

ET	FNC	CNN	MSNBC	NEWSMAX	NEWSNATION
6a	FOX AND FRIENDS: 243	NEW DAY: 56	MORNING JOE: 92	DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY: 2	ELEMENTARY: 1
7a	FOX AND FRIENDS: 285	NEW DAY: 69	—	WAKE UP AMERICA: 12	MORNING IN AMERICA: 4
8a	FOX AND FRIENDS: 248	NEW DAY: 98	—	—	—
9a	AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 240	CNN NEWSROOM: 105	MORNING JOE: 91	NATIONAL REPORT: 19	—
10a	AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 231	CNN NEWSROOM: 99	JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS: 66	—	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 18
11a	FAULKNER FOCUS, THE: 253	AT THIS HOUR: 120	MSNBC REPORTS- LIVE: 58	—	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 23
12p	OUTNUMBERED: 285	INSIDE POLITICS: 135	ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 66	JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 25	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT: 53
1p	AMERICA REPORTS: 251	CNN NEWSROOM: 114	CHRIS JANSING REPORTS: 60	—	BLUE BLOODS: 28
2p	AMERICA REPORTS: 238	CNN NEWSROOM: 105	KATY TUR REPORTS: 65	AMERICAN AGENDA: 21	BLUE BLOODS: 25
3p	STORY, THE: 176	CNN NEWSROOM: 124	HALLIE JACKSON REPORTS: 91	—	BLUE BLOODS: 29
4p	YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO: 196	LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 135	DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE: 117	ERIC BOLLING THE BALANCE: 29	BLUE BLOODS: 28
5p	FIVE, THE: 385	LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 126	—	CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 19	NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 32
6p	SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER: 307	SITUATION ROOM: 152	BEAT W/ARI MELBER: 125	SPICER & CO: 16	NEWSNATION: RUSH HOUR: 11
7p	JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME: 366	ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY: 285	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 270	GREG KELLY REPORTS: 18	ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 9
8p	TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT: 586	—	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 576	JAN. 6TH HEARING LIVE!: 20	NEWSNATION SPECIAL REPORT: 18
9p	HANNITY: 506	—	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 656	—	—
10p	INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE: 518	—	JANUARY 6TH HEARINGS: 487	ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 16	—
11p	FOX NEWS AT NIGHT: 347	DON LEMON TONIGHT: 382	11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE: 262	GREG KELLY REPORTS: 26	NN PRIME: SPECIAL REPORT: 11

As for the three cable news networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

Total viewers:

CNN: 892,000

Fox News: 1.81 million

MSNBC: 1.38

25-54 Demo:

CNN: 227,000

Fox News: 295,000

MSNBC: 180,000

For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.

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