TV Ratings: Normalcy Returns Post Olympics

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have proven to be attractive commodities for the cable news networks, particularly MSNBC and CNN. Those nets registered week-to-week gains in primetime during this past week as the Democratic candidates have been injecting plenty of renewed energy into campaign season. CNN was the only network to see an improvement during total day, while Fox News was the only network to dip across both dayparts.

TV Newser reports Nielsen live plus same-day data for the week of August 12 saw FNC average 2.267 million total viewers and 292,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo during primetime. The network was a respective -5% and -3% in those measured categories relative to the week prior. In total day, Fox News averaged 1.403 million total viewers and 188,000 A25-54 viewers for losses of -4% and -2%, respectively.

Among all basic cable networks, Fox News remained at No. 1 in total primetime viewers and remained No. 2 in the demo behind the NFL Network. It continued to lead in total viewers during total day, and also claimed first place in the total day demo, up from second last week.

MSNBC’s primetime schedule averaged 1.433 million total viewers and 161,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo. The network was up by +3% in the former category and +1% in the latter. MSNBC averaged 943,000 total viewers and 103,000 A25-54 viewers across total day. MSNBC remained the No. 2 cable network in total primetime viewers and stayed at sixth place in the demo. During total day, it repeated at second place in total viewers and fell from fourth to sixth place in the demo.

CNN averaged 785,000 total primetime viewers and 155,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime for week-to-week gains of +13% and +14%, respectively. In total day, the network attracted 562,000 total viewers and 99,000 viewers in the demo for a gain of +7% in the former category and a decline of -6% in the latter. During primetime, CNN remained in fourth place with total viewers and climbed back to seventh from ninth place in the demo. During total day, it ticked upwards from fourth to third place in total viewers and dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the demo.

Graphics courtesy of  ROAD MN

PROGRAMMING:

Fox News continued to claim 10 of the 15 spots for most-watched cable news shows of the week, with The Five (3.239 million viewers at 5 p.m. ET) staying on top. MSNBC occupied the remaining spots with an average of The Rachel Maddow Show/Alex Wagner Tonight (1.855 million viewers at 9 p.m. ET) landing at No. 7.

Gutfeld! (393,000 viewers at 10 p.m. ET) ranked first among the most-watched shows in the demo, with FNC taking 12 of the top 15 spots. MSNBC’s Maddow/Wagner combo (217,000 viewers at 9 p.m. ET) placed ninth for MSNBC.

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS

ABC's David Muir, CBS' Norah O'Donnell, NBC's Lest Holt

The evening news ratings battle has returned to status quo post-Olympics as ABC World News Tonight with David Muir reclaimed the top spot in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for the week of August 12. TV Newser reports with this win, WNT extends its streak as the most-watched program on television to 21 weeks this season.

NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt—which had claimed the top spot during the previous two weeks thanks to the 2024 Paris Olympics—slipped back to second place in both measured categories. But the network also notes that the newscast enjoyed its closest non-Olympics demo gap with WNT in seven months.

All three newscasts saw week-to-week drops in total viewers, with NBC’s fall being the steepest without an Olympics lead-in. ABC and NBC also saw demo drops that the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell narrowly escaped.

WNT averaged 7.170 million total viewers and 939,000 A25-54 viewers for the week of August 12. It was down a respective -5% and -7% in both of those categories compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance alongside the same week in 2023 (the week beginning August 14), WNT was down in total viewers by -6% and -19% in the demo.

NBC Nightly News pulled in a respective 5.977 million and 866,000 viewers in both of the measured categories, for double digit week-to-week drops of -22% in total viewers and -41% in the demo. Looking at its year-to-year performance, Nightly News was the only newscast to see a gain in total viewers with a +1% bump, but that was balanced by a -13% in the demo.

CBS Evening News attracted 4.308 million total viewers and 588,000 viewers in the demo for the week of August 12. That translates to a drop of -3% in the former category, but a +1% gain in the latter. Compared to the same week in 2023, the network’s numbers fell by -3% in total viewers and -15% in the demo.

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 8/12/24), Previous Week (w/o 8/5/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 7/7/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 8/18/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 8/13/23). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.

📺TV SHOW RANKER

Ranking is based on ratings data as of Friday, August 16, 2024. The audience figures are derived from the latest Nielsen daily, weekly, or monthly P2+ program audience averages, whichever is the most recently available within the past seven-day window.