Maddow Crushes Fox News As Viewers Move To MSNBC

In the latest CableTV Ratings news....Rachel Maddow finished as the number one show on cable news, and MSNBC was the top network on cable news after the Republican health care bill failed in the House.

On Friday after the health care bill failed, more viewers watched Rachel Maddow (3.058 million) than watched Bill O’Reilly on Fox News (2.363 million). MSNBC’s The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell (2.328 million) drew more viewers than Fox’s Sean Hannity (2.235 million). The only MSNBC program that did worse than Fox News primetime was Chris Hayes, but All In still drew 2.154 million viewers, according to poticiususa.com.

MSNBC has been on an incredible ratings roll since Donald Trump took office. According to an MSNBC statement, “The Rachel Maddow Show at 9pm finished March 2017 as the #1 cable news show in the key A25-54 demo in the M-F 9-10pm time period. This marks the first time MSNBC has been #1 in the A25-54 demo during that time period ever, and the first time in almost five years since MSNBC beat FOX News in the demo in any hour for the month (previous was “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” in December 2012).

Rachel Maddow

“The Rachel Maddow Show” and MSNBC had its best total viewer delivery in the time period ever in the show’s eight-and-a-half years or network’s 20-year history and the best A25-54 delivery since November 2008.

“The Rachel Maddow Show’s” total audience was up +106% over March 2016, while CNN was flat (+3%) and FOX News was up +11%. In the A25-54 demo, “The Rachel Maddow Show” grew +103% year-over-year, besting CNN (+14%) – attaining its biggest lead over CNN since February 2014 – and FOX News (+18%). For the first quarter of 2017, “The Rachel Maddow Show” beat CNN in both total viewers and A25-54. The show delivered its best total viewer delivery ever and best A25-54 delivery in the time period since 4Q08.”

However, for the first quarter of 2017, Fox News is the winner.

FNC’s flagship primetime show, The O’Reilly Factor, claimed the biggest quarter total-viewer tally for any program in cable news history, 4 million viewers.

In every timeslot, from 6 AM and 11 PM, FNC logged its biggest ever quarterly crowds, according to Deadline.com.

For the quarter, MSNBC enjoyed cable news’s biggest ratings boosts, percentage-wise, year to year, including a 51% spike in total day total viewers (756K), a 58% total-viewer leap in primetime (1.402M viewers), as well as a 37% jump in total-day news-demo viewers (179K), and a 46% pop in primetime news-demo viewers (330K).

Bill O'Reilly

CNN, meanwhile, boasted its most-watched 1Q since 2003 in both total viewers and the news demo for total day. All CNN shows beat MSNBC’s this quarter in the news demo, except at 9 PM, where Rachel Maddow prevailed, thanks in no small part, to her much mocked – but also much viewed – reveal of Donald Trump’s headline-challenged 2005 tax return.

CNN showed a slight 1Q ratings slip in primetime compared to last year, owing to the network having hosted a mind-numbing 12 exclusive ratings-magnet debates and town halls in first quarter ’16, to MSNBC’s 1 and FNC’s 3.

In total viewers, the Top 5 cable news shows of 1Q17: FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor (3.982M), Tucker Carlson Tonight (3.272M), The Five (3.031M), Special Report with Bret Baier (2.953M) and Hannity (2.871M).

Among adults 25-54, the Top 5 cable news show of 1Q17: The O’Reilly Factor (728K); Tucker Carlson Tonight (689K); Hannity (668K); The First 100 Days (540K), and Special Report with Bret Baier (533K).