OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s meteoric rise to cable news stardom continued this month as her “Outnumbered” program on Fox News draws more viewers.
The show broke into the top 20 programs in all of cable television this week, besting every program on rival networks CNN and MSNBC.
Several other Fox News programs were also in the top 20, with Tucker Carlson’s nightly offering at No. 4.
Here was the viewership breakdown per ShowBuzzDaily:
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRIME ESPN
SPORTSCENTER 12AM L ESPN
COLL FTBL COUNTDOWN L ESPN 7:00 PM
TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT FOX NEWS CHANNEL
JERSEY SHORE: FAM VACA S5B MTV
FIVE, THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL
PARDON THE INTERRUPTION ESPN
SPORTSCENTER EARLY L ESPN
SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER FOX NEWS CHANNEL
NFL GAMEDAY KO PRE-KICK NFL NETWORK
JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME FOX NEWS CHANNEL
NFL GAMEDAY KO SHOWCASE NFL NETWORK
HANNITY FOX NEWS CHANNEL
AROUND THE HORN ESPN
SPORTSCENTER 12AM L ESPN
AMERICA REPORTS FOX NEWS CHANNEL
INMATE TO ROOMMATE A&E NETWORK
OUTNUMBERED FOX NEWS CHANNEL
AMERICAS NEWSROOM FOX NEWS CHANNEL
FAULKNER FOCUS, THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL
McEnany went viral again on Thursday as she rebuked a patently false claim from Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams regarding fetal heart tones.
“There is no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks. It is a manufactured sound designed to convince people that men have the right to take control of a woman’s body,” Abrams said this week during a campaign event at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center in Atlanta.
“I believe that abortion is a medical decision, not a political decision. Arbitrary politically-defined timelines are deeply problematic because they ignore the reality of medical and physiological issues,” she added in a clip tweeted by the Republican National Committee, which also accused Abrams of supporting no limits on abortion.
McEnany responded to Abrams during a segment on Outnumbered, where she serves as a primary co-host.
“Stacey Abrams said there’s ‘no such thing as a heartbeat at 6 weeks. It is a manufactured sound designed to convince people that men have the right to take control of a woman’s body’ – She is wrong! I heard my baby’s heartbeat at my 1st OBGYN appointment. It was not manufactured!” she tweeted along with the show segment.
McEnany’s show has been rising in the ratings for weeks.
In addition to drawing in more overall viewers, ‘Outnumbered’ also topped competitors in the 25-54 age demographic in early August, which is sought after most by advertisers.
“‘Outnumbered’ got almost three times as many viewers as CNN’s ‘Inside Politics’ and did more than triple MSNBC’s show in the timeslot, Andrea Mitchell Reports, which continues to hemorrhage viewers,” Slay News reported on Tuesday, citing Monday’s viewership figures. “McEnany’s daytime show also crushed some of CNN’s primetime lineup, beating Don Lemon 1.768M to 649K.”
Here are the viewership figures for the ‘Outnumbered’ timeslot, which airs at noon EDT:
Fox, OUTNUMBERED: 1,768,000
CNN, INSIDE POLITICS: 605,000
MSNBC, ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 580,000
Newsmax, JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 152,000
Newsnation, BLUE BLOODS: 171,000
In addition, Fox News dominated the day in total viewers, as it has for roughly a year:
CNN: 539,000
Fox News: 1.71 million
MSNBC: 917,000
Here is the breakdown for the 25-54 Demo:
CNN: 110,000
Fox News: 229,000
MSNBC: 112,000
While August has started off well for Fox News, the network dominated July ratings as well, just as it has for more than a year.
“FNC just completed its 18th consecutive month as the most-watched basic cable network in total day, averaging 1.35 million total day viewers in July 2022, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. Fox also averaged 194,000 adults 25-54 in total day for July. Compared to the previous month of June, however, Fox News lost -2% in total day viewers and -8% in the total day demo. How about Fox News primetime? The network remains far and away No. 1 in cable news, but shed -3% in total primetime viewers and -8% among the primetime demo vs. June,” Ad Week reported.