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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

TV Ratings CNN Edges FOX News For Bragging Rights



CNN and Fox News Channel battled for viewers on the election day that turned into an election week and then some, each earning bragging rights.

The Associated Press reports CNN edged Fox among total viewers for the week, averaging 5.9 million viewers to Fox’s 5.7 million. The latter was dominant on Tuesday as President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off at the polls.

Fox averaged 14.1 million viewers Tuesday to CNN’s 9.4 million, with MSNBC drawing 7.6 million, according to Nielsen figures. But CNN was tops among those watching Biden’s Saturday evening speech after the race was called in his favor, with 13.5 million tuning in.

MSNBC’s coverage of the event drew 9 million viewers, while Fox was watched by 3.1 million.

The NT Times reports Fox News viewers began to tune out a little more quickly than viewers of the other cable networks, not long after being greeted to gleaming graphics that Mr. Biden was now president-elect. Viewers started to leave Fox News around noon, about 20 minutes after the network made its call, according to data from Nielsen.

By 3 p.m., as cable viewers began to tire of the roundtable discussions about a Biden presidency, CNN had lost 24 percent of its noon audience and MSNBC 23 percent. But Fox News had shed 45 percent of its audience, to about 1.8 million viewers from about 3.4 million at noon.

Cable channels were the preferred option for those following the election, as the broadcast networks lagged behind individually and cumulatively. Their Tuesday viewership was ABC, 6.3 million; NBC, 5.8 million; CBS, 4.5 million.

Viewers also kept an eye on football and the pandemic-delayed season premieres of returning shows, including CBS’ “Young Sheldon” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” each drawing 6 million-plus viewers.

Powered by a NFL game, NBC was the week’s most-watched network in prime time, reaching an average of 6.33 million viewers. CBS had 4.95 million, the Fox broadcasting network had 4.3 million, ABC had 4.1 million, Univision had 1.34 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million, Ion Television had 1.09 million and CW had 580,000.

Besides the news channels, other cable leaders included ESPN with 2.2 million viewers, Hallmark with 1.5 million and HGTV with 1 million.

➤Top 20 Prime-Time Shows (Total Viewers):

1. NFL Football: New Orleans at Tampa Bay, NBC, 16.88 million.

2. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 14. 6 million.

3. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 14.5 million.

4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14 million.

5. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 13.7 million.

6. NFL Football: Green Bay at San Francisco, Fox, 13.54 million.

7. Election coverage (Saturday), CNN, 13.5 million.

8. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 13.4 million.

9. “NFL Pre-Game,” NBC, 12.5 million.

10. NFL Football: Tampa Bay at New York Giants, ESPN, 12.2 million.

11. “NFL Post-Game,” Fox, 11.7 million.

12. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 11.6 million.

13. Election coverage (Tuesday), Fox News Channel, 10.3 million.

14. Election coverage (Tuesday), CNN, 9.8 million.

15. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 9.7 million.

16. Election coverage (Tuesday), CNN, 9.4 million.

17. Election coverage (Tuesday), CNN, 9.2 million.

18. Election coverage (Saturday), MSNBC, 9 million.

19. “NFL Pre-Game,” Fox, 8.9 million.

20. Election coverage (Saturday), CNN, 8.7 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening newscasts, averaging 9.4 million viewers for the week. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.7 million.

According to TV NewsCheck, the week’s top-rated daytime talk shows in the women 25-54 demo were:

  • Live with Kelly and Ryan (0.9, +13% from the week before)
  • Dr. Phil (0.7, -13%)
  • Ellen DeGeneres (0.6, +20%)
  • Maury (0.5, unchanged)
  • Kelly Clarkson (0.4, -20%), tied with Tamron Hall (0.4, unchanged), Steve Wilkos (0.4, unchanged) and Wendy Williams (0.4, unchanged)

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