OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Fox News is continuing its domination over rival cable news channels, beating out MSNBC and CNN combined in total viewers on Thursday.
According to Mediaite, “Fox News averaged 1.54 million total day viewers and 178,000 demo viewers to land in first place.”
“MSNBC brought in an average of 852,000 total day viewers and 90,000 demo viewers to come in second. CNN, meanwhile, averaged 403,000 total day viewers and 78,000 demo viewers for third,” the report said.
Right-leaning Newsmax came in fourth overall, followed NewsNation, where former CNN primetime host Chris Cuomo has a show, a distant fifth place.
All of Fox’s prime-time shows, beginning with “The Five” blew away competitors.
As for the top three networks, here are Thursday’s numbers:
Total viewers:
CNN: 403,000
Fox News: 1.54 million
MSNBC: 852,000
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 78,000
Fox News: 178,000
MSNBC: 90,000
Here are the primetime figures in terms of overall viewers and key demo viewers (ages 35-54):
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 78,000
Fox News: 245,000
MSNBC: 118,000
Last week, according to Mediaite, Carlson’s show was the highest-rated program in all of cable news, bringing in a whopping 3.09 million total viewers and 365,000 in the 25-54 demo as he aired video footage from the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol Building in 2021.
“That audience was enough to beat out the usual top show in cable news, Fox News’s The Five, as well as beat the competition on MSNBC and CNN by miles. In total viewers, Carlson tripled the 8 p.m. competition on MSNBC and sextupled his CNN rival. In the demo, Carlson more than tripled both MSNBC and CNN,” Mediaite reported.
On another night last week, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” brought in a whopping 4.1 million total viewers. Fox News prime time soared to over 3 million average viewers throughout the day, destroying competition.
“The very strong prime time number was anchored by Tucker Carlson, who brought in 4.14 million total viewers as his show sparked controversy on Monday night for his Jan. 6th coverage. Fox prime time doubled MSNBC’s average of 1.49 million total viewers and brought in more than six times the viewers of CNN. CNN’s prime time average came in at 451,000 total viewers,” Mediaite reported.
Not everyone was happy about him showing the footage, however.
The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police issued a memo to his staff following the airing of the previously unseen security footage, which showed police officers appearing to stand passively by as a large crowd entered the Capitol.
Police Chief Tom Manger condemned the comments made during the airing of the footage on Carlson’s Monday night program, stating that it was “filled with offensive and misleading conclusions” about the riot of January 6, 2021, when a group of people breached the U.S. Capitol building, causing disruptions to lawmakers who were in the process of certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video,” Manger claimed. “The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.”
Manger noted that Capitol Police “maintains, as anyone with common sense would, that had Officer Sicknick not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day.”
In his memo, Manger thanked and praised members of the Capitol Police force, commending their efforts on January 6.
“You fought like hell on January 6 and risked your lives to protect the Constitution and everything this country stands for,” he wrote. “You, along with our law enforcement partners, saved every member of Congress and their staff.”
Carlson was provided access to some 40,000 hours of previously unseen surveillance video by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Ky.), a move that was criticized by Democrats and some Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“It was a mistake in my view for Fox News to depict this in a way that is completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol thinks,” McConnell said, according to USA Today.
