Week of November 18 Cable News Ratings: Post-Election News Fatigue Continues
These are TVNewser’s basic cable network rankings and cable news reporting for the week of November 18, 2024.
All three cable news networks continued to see weekly declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo in the period following the 2024 presidential election.
However, Fox News remained the most-watched of the three major cable news networks, crushing its rivals by continuing to hold a 72% share of the primetime audience and 67% of the total daytime share .
MSNBC and CNN received less than 20% shares during both dayparts, a trend that has remained consistent since election night.
NETWORKS:
Nielsen live and same-day data for the week of November 18 saw FNC average 2.692 million total viewers and 323,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime. The network is down -9% and -10% respectively in the two measured categories compared to the previous week.
For the day as a whole, Fox News averaged 1.699 million total viewers and 206,000 A25-54 viewers, for weekly declines of -9% and -13%, respectively.
Among all basic cable networks, Fox News was the No. 1 cable network in total primetime viewers and finished second in the primetime demo. During the total day, it dominated total viewers and remained in second place in the demo.
MSNBC’s primetime programming averaged 658,000 total viewers and 60,000 A25-54 viewers, for declines of -4% and -8%, respectively, from the previous week.
On the total day, MSNBC averaged 484,000 total viewers and 42,000 A25-54 viewers, for weekly declines of -1% and -7%, respectively.
MSNBC’s numbers appear to be stabilizing from the previous week, as they saw only low single-digit declines in both measured categories. Outside of prime time programming, Morning Joe saw a drop in viewership after the co-hosts Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski disclosed his meeting with the president-elect Donald Trump. The morning show had its worst week without a vacation since 2015.
Among all basic cable networks, MSNBC remained in fifth place in total primetime viewers and fell from 28th to 29th in the demo. During the total day, it remained the No. 4 network in total viewers and rose from No. 21 to No. 23 in the demo.
CNN averaged 415,000 total viewers and 79,000 A25-54 viewers in the primetime demo, for declines of -11% and -10%, respectively.
During the total day, the network saw 335,000 total viewers and 53,000 viewers in the demo, for weekly declines of -1% in the former category and -9% in the latter. CNN continued to finish ahead of MSNBC in the primetime demo and throughout the day.
In the basic cable ratings, CNN ranked 16th in total primetime viewers and 22nd in the primetime demo. During the total day, CNN ranked No. 5 in total viewers and slipped to 16th place in the demo, tied with Freeform.
PROGRAMMING:
Fox News took 14 of the 15 spots for the week’s most-watched cable news shows, with The Five (4.209 million viewers at 5 p.m. ET) remaining in the lead. MSNBC Deadline: The White House with Nicole Wallace (997,000 viewers at 5 p.m. ET) took last place.
The Five (440,000 at 5 p.m. ET) also ranked first on the list of most-watched shows among the A25-54 demo. Fox News occupied all 15 spots overall.
Prime time
Fox News MSNBC CNN • Total number of viewers: 2,692,000 658,000 415,000 • A25-54: 323,000 60,000 79,000
Total day
Fox News MSNBC CNN • Total number of viewers: 1,699,000 484,000 335,000 • A25-54: 206,000 42,000 53,000
