Overnight Cable News Ratings for Nov. 1-4: Viewership Increases Ahead of Election Day

Friday, Nov. 1 CNN finished ahead of MSNBC in the Adults 25-54 demo, with The Source with Kaitlan Collins registering as the network’s most-watched program of the evening in both total viewers and the demo. MSNBC saw its highest total viewer audience for the 4 p.m. ET hour of Deadline: White House with Nicole Wallace,…

42.3 Million Viewers Watched Presidential Election Night Coverage

Donald Trump made a political comeback, but the ratings didn’t. On Tuesday, 42.3 million viewers tuned in to watch presidential election coverage across 18 networks, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s a 25% decline in viewership compared to 2020, which drew 56.9 million viewers in primetime. During the evening, which showcased the Republican presidential candidate,…

Week of October 28 Cable News Ratings: MSNBC Enjoys Week-to-Week Gains Ahead of the Election

This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of October 28, 2024. The final week of the 2024 presidential election was all about 2024 presidential campaign. The three major cable news networks covered every move that Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump made as they criss-crossed the…

Election Night 2024: Here Are the Times the News Networks Called the Presidency for Donald Trump

The news networks have made their call: Donald Trump is once again the President-elect of the United States. The former president’s return to the White House did not follow the drama-filled route of the 2020 presidential cycle, where the outcome was not known until the weekend following Election Night. This time around, Trump has won…

Election Night 2024: Here’s When the News Networks Called the Battleground States

With voting across the U.S. in the election officially done, seven states will play a crucial role in determining who becomes the next U.S. president. Those battleground states include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where polls are deadlocked between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Because of their…

Election Night 2024: Watch How News Outlets Began Their Primetime Coverage

Primetime coverage of 2024’s political Super Bowl is now underway. Key talent from the various news outlets in position to cover one of the most costly contended presidential elections in American history, with a deadlocked race Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Marathon coverage of this consequential election opened with snazzy sports-esque…

Election Night 2024: How the News Networks Prepared to Cover This Historic Contest

Election Night is TV news’ Super Bowl, and the major news outlets have spent untold hours getting ready for Tuesday night. That’s when millions of viewers tune in looking for the answer to one question: Will the next commander in chief be Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump? TVNewser had its own…

Here’s How to Watch Election Night 2024 Coverage

The biggest night of America’s political calendar is upon us. On Nov. 5, millions of viewers around the country to tune in to see which presidential candidate will enter the Oval Office in January: Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump. With 2024’s contest polling so closely, the outcome of the election will…

Overnight Cable News Ratings for Oct. 22-24: Kamala Harris Town Hall Benefits CNN

Tuesday, Oct. 22 In a close fight for the night’s most-watched cable news program, The Five narrowly edged out Jesse Watters Primetime by 2,000 total viewers: 3.642 million vs. 3.640. But Watters was the clear winner in the Adults 25-54 demo, scoring 502,000 viewers to The Five’s 319,000. 25-54 Demographic (Live+SD x 1,000) Total Day:…

Mehdi Hasan Responds to Ryan Girdusky Controversy: ‘Shocked and stunned’

Mehdi Hasan broke his silence on Wednesday, addressing the circumstances surrounding his departure from Monday night’s episode of NewsNight with Abby Phillip on CNN. In a five minute video shared on X, formerly Twitter, the former MSNBC anchor and founder of Zeteo shared his reaction to conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky’s bigoted on air remark. “Never…

Election Night 2024: CNN Shares Its Coverage Plans

CNN’s deep roster of anchors, correspondents, analysts, and commentators will be out in full force on Election Night. Look for coverage to span multiple platforms, including cable networks CNN and CNN International, as well as the CNN Max streaming service and CNN.com. The main event begins on Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. with the launch…

Week of October 21 Cable News Ratings: Election Day’s Approach Reels in More Viewers

This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of October 21, 2024. With the presidential election two weeks away, the big three cable news networks focused on politics and were rewarded with high viewership. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC were all up in both measured categories across both dayparts….

Abby Phillip and Brian Stelter Talk Fox News and the ‘Subclipping Mafia’ at Mediaweek

Attendees at ADWEEK’s Mediaweek event received news they could use on Monday. The dynamic CNN duo of NewsNight anchor Abby Phillip and chief media analyst Brian Stelter took the stage for a TVNewser-hosted panel exploring the past, present, and future of presidential election coverage on the major cable networks. The panel was a homecoming of…

Here Are the Cable News Ratings for October 2024

The presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has dominated the news cycle since the summer, and October was no different. The one exception to the non-stop election cycle was the brief period last month when all eyes turned to Florida as Hurricane Milton barreled through the Sunshine State. As…

Abby Phillip Addresses Ryan Girdusky Controversy: ‘It Was a Racist Comment’ (Exclusive)

With a week to go until Election Day, emotions are running high on both sides of the aisle. And on Monday night, those emotions boiled over into public view on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip when conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky made a bigoted remark to fellow panelist, Mehdi Hasan. Phillip immediately took point on lowering…

5 Questions For… Kaitlan Collins

As the host of CNN’s The Source, it’s only appropriate that Kaitlan Collins has regularly been a source of Donald Trump’s ire. In 2018, the Alabama-born journalist was famously barred from a Rose Garden press conference after Trump administration officials objected to her line of questioning during an Oval Office event with the then-president. Five…

Ticker: The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times Will Not Endorse a Presidential Candidate

Top of the Ticker: Two major American newspapers–The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times–have chosen not to issue a presidential endorsement, reportedly at the behest of their billionaire owners, Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong, respectively. It’s the first time in almost 40 years that the Post has declined to endorse a candidate. The decision…

Kamala Harris Calls Donald Trump a Fascist During CNN Town Hall (Ratings Update)

Update: The CNN town hall was the most-watched program of the evening among all the cable networks with 3.334 million total viewers, and finished second in the Adults 25-54 demo, behind NBA on ESPN, with 744,000 viewers between 9 – 10:11 p.m. ET. Within that same time period, Fox News and MSNBC had 3.229 million…

CNN’s How It Really Happened Takes on the Tylenol Murders (Exclusive)

Looking for a fresh true crime binge? Here’s the prescription: CNN is premiering three new episodes of the long-running How It Really Happened docuseries in November. Tony winner Jesse L. Martin returns to host the trio of new installments, which kicks off with a fresh look at the notorious Tylenol murders that had America on…

Week of October 14 Cable News Ratings: News Programming is No Match for Sports

This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of October 14, 2024. Fox News’ Bret Baier’s interview with Vice President Kamala Harris was no match for an active sports week that included NFL, college football, and the baseball post-season. Sports-heavy networks like TBS, ESPN, and FS1 all saw a…