TV Ratings: NFL Football Places The Top 6 Shows

President-elect Donald Trump‘s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election was certainly good news for Fox News. The network finished Election Week as the No. 1 television outlet during primetime in total viewers, even surpassing the broadcast networks. Overall, FNC enjoyed its best week since 2020. 

Fox News dominated Election Night coverage and was the most-watched network during the vice president’s concession speech, with over 7 million total viewers tuning in.

All three cable networks performed better than the previous week in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 audience, with triple digit gains in that advertiser-coveted demo during primetime. But MSNBC and CNN suffered significant viewer erosion as the week continued, whereas Fox News continued its winning ways.

TV Newser reports Nielsen live plus same-day data for the week of November 4 saw Fox News averaging 4.313 million total viewers and 872,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime. The network was up by +57% in the former category and +149% in the latter relative to the week prior. Among all basic cable networks, Fox News remained at No. 1 in total primetime viewers and No. 2 in the primetime demo behind ESPN. In total day, it finished first with total viewers and the demo.

MSNBC’s primetime lineup averaged 1.578 million total viewers and 356,000 A25-54 viewers for week-to-week gains of +11% and +120%, respectively. Among all basic cable networks, MSNBC finished in third place in total primetime viewers and jumped up one spot from fifth to fourth place in the demo. During total day, it was the No. 2 network in total viewers and remained at No. 4 in the demo. 

CNN averaged 1.223 million total primetime viewers and 434,000 A25-54 viewers for week-to-week gains of +53% and +140%, respectively.

Across total day, the network saw 720,000 total viewers and 215,000 A25-54 viewers in the demo for gains of +30% and +95%, respectively. Notable: CNN finished ahead of MSNBC with A25-54 viewers in both primetime and total day. On the basic cable charts, CNN placed fourth with primetime total viewers and finished third in the primetime demo. In total day, the network was No. 4 with total viewers behind third place ESPN and No. 3 in the demo.

📺Fox News had 14 of the 15 spots of the most-watched cable news shows of the week.

FNC notched multiple records for the week. Gutfeld! (3.8 million P2+; 627,000 A25-54), The Faulkner Focus (3 million P2+) and America Reports (2.8 million P2+) all secured the highest-rated week the shows have seen since launch. The Five (5.3 million P2+) secured its second highest week since 2011 launch.  

Following the election from Wednesday – Sunday The Faulkner Focus (3,478,000 P2+) and Outnumbered (3,318,000 P2+) marked a significant milestone leading ABC’s The View (3,263,000 P2+). Additionally, The Faulkner Focus, Outnumbered, America’s Newsroom (3,242,000 P2+) and America Reports (3,035,000 P2+) all surpassed NBC’s The Today Show (2,979,000 P2+) and ABC’s GMA (2,762,000 P2+) in post-election coverage. FOX & Friends (2,318,000 P2+) led many broadcast programs including CBS Mornings (2,219,000 P2+), NBC’s TODAY Third Hour (1,922,000 P2+), CBS’ The Talk (1,289,000 P2+) and ABC’s GMA3 (1,286,000 P2+) after the election.

For the week:

• The Five averaged a massive 5.3 million viewers and 726,000 in the 25-54 demo to lead all of television. 
• At 6 PM/ET, Special Report with Bret Baier drew 4 million viewers and 583,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Ingraham Angle saw 4 million viewers and 618,000 in the 25-54 demo at 7 PM/ET. 
• At 8 PM/ET, Jesse Watters Primetime delivered 4.7 million viewers and 712,000 in the 25-54 demo. 
• At 9 PM/ET, Hannity posted 3.9 million viewers and 630,000 with A25-54. 
• At 11 PM/ET, FOX News @ Night secured 2.1 million viewers and 401,000 in the 25-54 demo. 
• FNC’s Gutfeld! continued to lead all late-night television across the board. For the week, Gutfeld! averaged 3.8 million viewers and 627,000 in the 25-54 demo, crushing CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2 million P2+; 368,000 A25-54), ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.7 million P2+; 353,000 A25-54) and NBC’s The Tonight Show (1.2 million P2+; 305,000 A25-54).

On Saturday: Life, Liberty & Levin (weekends, 8 PM/ET) was the most-watched show of the day with 2,114,000 viewers, while One Nation with Brian Kilmeade (Saturday 9 PM/ET) led the way in the 25-54 demo with 211,000 viewers. The Big Weekend Show (weekends, 7 PM/ET) averaged 1.8 million viewers and 186,000 in the 25-54 demo. FOX & Friends Weekend (weekends, 6-10 AM/ET) commanded 1.7 million viewers and 194,000 in the 25-54 demo. 

On Sunday: Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday Morning Futures (Sunday, 10 AM/ET) dominated cable news averaging 2.1 million viewers and 235,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Big Weekend Show (weekends, 7 PM/ET) following with 1,946,000 viewers and 234,000 in the 25-54 demo. At 9 PM/ET, Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy posted 1,779,000 viewers and 180,000 in the younger demo.

Source: Nielsen. Live+SD. Week of 11-4-24 ratings data. Average audience for cable news networks Monday-Sunday based on Total Day and Prime (6a-6a, 8P-11P), P2+, P25-54, P18-49. Cable News/Broadcast Program averages exclude repeats and include the corresponding program name.

📺BROADCAST EVEING NEWS:

With David Muir leading ABC News’ election coverage, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 evening newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.371 million), Adults 25-54 (1.075 million) and Adults 18-49 (745,000) during the week of Nov. 4, 2024, based on Live + Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.“World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.071 million, 967,000 and 654,000, respectively) by 1.300 million Total Viewers, by 108,000 Adults 25-54 and by 91,000 Adults 18-49.

• For the 5th week in a row, “World News Tonight” widened its Adults 25-54 margin over “NBC Nightly News” on the same week last year (+44% – 108,000 vs. 75,000). In fact, “World News Tonight” increased its lead year to year in 6 of the 7 weeks of the season.
• “World News Tonight” improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+2%/+124,000 – 7.371 million vs. 7.247 million), Adults 25-54 (+6%/+60,000 – 1.075 million vs. 1.015 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8%/+58,000 – 745,000 vs. 687,000), hitting 4-week highs across the board — since w/o 10/7/24.
•  “World News Tonight” (1.072 million and 736,000, respectively) is leading NBC (883,000 and 581,000, respectively), increasing its margins from the same point last season by triple digits in Adults 25-54 (+250% – 189,000 vs. 54,000) and Adults 18-49 (+252% – 155,000 vs. 44,000). In addition, “World News Tonight” is leading “CBS Evening News” (673,000 and 456,000, respectively) by 399,000 Adults 25-54 and by 280,000 Adults 18-49.

• For the week, “World News Tonight” (7.371 million, 1.075 million and 745,000, respectively) defeated “CBS Evening News” (4.536 million, 787,000 and 535,000, respectively) by 2.835 million Total Viewers, by 288,000 Adults 25-54 and by 210,000 Adults 18-49.

📺TV SHOW RATINGS RANKER:

Ranking is based on ratings data as of Monday, November 11, 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.