TV Ratings: Dem Debates Dominate

Intensely loyal viewers routinely make Fox News Channel the most-watched cable network each week. So how many people want to watch a miniseries about Roger Ailes, the man who developed and ran the place for its first two decades?

David Bauder at The Associated Press reports the safest answer for Showtime’s “The Loudest Voice in the Room” is it’s early.

The Nielsen company said 299,000 watched Sunday’s 10 p.m. debut of the miniseries starring Russell Crowe, or roughly one-tenth of the audience Sean Hannity pulls in each night. But for a premium cable network, that’s only part of the story. When you add replays and streams, Sunday’s audience swelled to 651,000, Nielsen said.

Often, as much as 80% of an audience for a Showtime series watches on a delayed basis, network spokeswoman Johanna Fuentes said.

Elsewhere, NBC’s two-night coverage of the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 political season dominated the television landscape. Wednesday night’s debate reached 15.3 million people across the broadcast network, as well as MSNBC and Telemundo. The audience for Thursday was 18.1 million, the largest ever for a Democratic primary debate.

Boosted by the political nights, NBC won the week in prime time, averaging 4.9 million viewers. CBS had 3.6 million, ABC had 3.3 million, Fox had 1.9 million, ION Television had 1.5 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 680,000.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.37 million viewers. MSNBC had 2.3 million, ESPN had 1.28 million, HGTV had 1.23 million and USA had 1.04 million.

For Q2 2019, Fox News wrapped up another quarter as the most-watched network on cable television, running its streak in total day to 12 consecutive quarters at No. 1, and 70 consecutive quarters at No. 1 in cable news.

It was also the most-watched basic cable network for the quarter in prime time, according to TVNewser.

Fox News had double digit percent advantages over its main cable news competition –MSNBC and CNN– in both total viewers and adults 25-54, as well as triple digit percent advantages over CNN in total prime time viewers.

Additionally, the network claimed seven of the top 10 cable news programs in total viewers and eight of the top in the 25-54 demo for the quarter. FNC’s evening and prime time programs were among the top four shows in total viewers and adults 25-54.

On broadcast TV, ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 6.8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5 million viewers.

⏩ Prime-time broadcast viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for June 24-30:

1. “Democratic Debate” (Thursday), NBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, 18.1 million.
2. “Democratic Debate” (Wednesday), NBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, 15.3 million.
3. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 10.14 million.
4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7 million.
5. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 5.74 million.
6. “Big Brother” (Tuesday), CBS, 4.94 million.
7. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.87 million.
8. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 4.67 million.
9. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 4.59 million.
10. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 4.53 million.

11. “Young Sheldon” (Thursday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 4.44 million.
12. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 4.32 million.
13. “Holey Moley,” ABC, 4.31 million.
14. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 4.309 million.
15. “Young Sheldon” (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.), CBS, 4.274 million.
16. “Songland,” NBC, 4.272 million.
17. “Press Your Luck,” ABC, 4.19 million.
18. “To Tell The Truth,” ABC, 4.03 million.
19. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 3.93 million.
20. “Amazing Race,” CBS, 3.82 million.