CableTV News Ratings: Rachel Wins During March

For years, Fox News has remained a dominant force in cable news, consistently outdrawing both CNN and MSNBC in viewers. The last quarter was no different, with Fox News remaining the most-watched cable news channel both during the day and in prime time.

But ratings from March point to the strongest challenge to Fox News’ ratings dominance in years, thanks to the growing popularity of MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, reports philly.com.

Last month, The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC averaged a total audience of 3.058 million a night, according to Nielsen ratings. It was the second-best ratings month to date for Maddow at the 9 p.m. hour, as she edged past Sean Hannity, who finished in second place with an average of 3 million viewers a night.

Maddow also beat Hannity among viewers 25 to 54, a key advertising demographic, with an average audience of 671,000. Hannity averaged 616,000 viewers in the same demo.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who is being replaced in the 9 p.m. hour with a new show anchored by current New Day host Chris Cuomo, finished a distant third in both total viewers and the 25-to-54 demographic.

For the quarter, Hannity defeated Maddow in total viewers, 3.196 million to 2.993 million. But Maddow won the quarter among adults 25 to 54, narrowly topping Hannity by about 2,000 viewers, 664,000 to 662,000. Not only was it Maddow’s strongest quarter to date, but she also was the only cable news host in her time slot who grew both total viewers (up 34 percent) and adults 25 to 54 (up 26 percent) compared with last year.