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Jesse Watters Continues to Dominate Competition In Cable News Race

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Fox News has managed to put together a winning line-up of shows and talent as the network’s stars continue to blow away the competition.

That is especially true of Jesse Watters, who has a pair of shows in the top five cable news programs, according to viewership data released this week.

While Fox News has been dominant for years, in the past several months, the network has pulled even further away from primary competitors MSNBC and CNN, the latter of which has suffered pathetic ratings and scandals throughout 2021 and 2022.

Watters is definitely part of that success.

The ratings, released on Tuesday, noted that Fox News had four of the top five shows in all of cable, with Watters featured in two of them: The U.S. Open was first, followed by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters Primetime, and “The Five,” which Watters co-hosts.

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FNC averaged 1.4 million total viewers between Aug. 29 and Sept. 4. Meanwhile, Fox News was the only basic cable offering to pass the one-million average viewer mark, making the network the most-watched cable outlet among total viewers for the 35th straight week. ‘The Five’ was the most-watched program during the rating period.

“FOX News Channel (FNC) finished August 2022 as the third most-watched network in all of television during weekday primetime, outpacing ABC and trailing only CBS and NBC,” Business Wire reported.

The report added:

According to Nielsen Media Research, FNC remained cable’s highest-rated network in total day and primetime with total viewers and the top rated in total day with the 25-54 demo. FNC surpassed CNN and MSNBC combined with total day and primetime viewers and was number one in all of cable with total day and primetime viewers.

FNC also ranked number one in cable news in primetime viewers for the 19th month in a row and notched 96 of the top 100 cable news telecasts for the month. Notably, FNC was the only cable news network to post double-digit gains versus last month and August marked its most-watched month of the summer with every program gaining viewers month-to-month.

In total day, FNC delivered 1.5 million viewers, 211,000 with the 25-54 demo and 128,000 with the 18-49 demo. In primetime, FNC netted 2.3 million viewers, 311,000 in the 25-54 demo, and 189,000 with the 18-49 demo. The network also delivered the top four programs in cable news with viewers and the top 15 of the top 16 cable news programs in the 25-54 demo.

“Attracting 53% of cable news viewers across primetime and 52% in total day, FNC continued to deliver over half the genre’s audience share. According to Nielsen MRI Fusion, FNC also remained the most-watched network across the political spectrum with more Independents and Democrats choosing FNC as their preferred network than MSNBC and CNN in total day and primetime viewers as well as the A25-54 demo. FNC remained the number one network among Hispanic and Asian households in total day viewers,” the report said.

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“Most notably, FNC’s Gutfeld! (2,191,000 P2+, 358,000 A25-54) made television history, becoming the first late-night cable program to finish the month as the most-watched late-night show in all of broadcast and cable, outpacing CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2,156,000 P2+, 377,000 A25-54) for the month of August,” Business Wire added.

“This is the first time Colbert has been unseated as late-night’s highest-rated host for a full month in more than five years (January 2017). Additionally, August marked the show’s highest-rated month since launching last April.”

“FNC’s late-night show also topped Comedy Central’s The Daily Show (383,000 P2+, 148,000 A25-54) across the board in total viewers and the younger 25-54 demo,” the report added.

In its own report, Fox News noted that the network has destroyed CNN and MSNBC in terms of viewership for 81 straight weeks.

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For the most recent week, “Fox News averaged 2.1 million primetime viewers, while MSNBC averaged 1.4 million and CNN settled for a dismal 653,000,” the network reported.

“It was much of the same among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, where Fox News averaged 286,000 primetime viewers among the critical category, compared to only 138,000 for CNN and a bleak 136,000 for MSNBC,” FNC added.

“‘The Five'” averaged 3.3 million viewers to take the total-viewer crown, while ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ averaged 441,000 viewers among the demo sought-after by advertisers to finish No. 1 in the category.”

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