Fox News wins monthly cable news race for 209th consecutive time

Fox News won the cable news ratings race in May, marking 209 consecutive months it has topped MSNBC and CNN, according to Nielsen Media Research. 

In the category of total day, which runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fox News averaged 1.3 million total viewers. MSNBC was second 912,000 viewers, while CNN was third with 553,000. 

{mosads}None of the three major cable news networks increased audiences when compared to the same month last year in total day, with CNN seeing the biggest drop of 15 percent. Fox News lost 3 percent, while MSNBC remained unchanged. 

In the same category in the 25-54 demographic that advertisers covet most, Fox News was first with 231,000 viewers, while CNN finished second with 137,000 viewers and MSNBC third with 134,000. 

The decrease in audience in the younger demographic was more pronounced across the board, with MSNBC losing 32 percent of its audience in the category compared to CNN’s 31 percent. Fox News was down 17 percent.

In prime time, Fox News averaged 2.4 million total viewers. MSNBC was second with 1.65 million and CNN third with 761,000 viewers. 

Fox News also won the prime-time 25-54 demographic with 377,000 viewers, while MSNBC was second with 242,000. CNN finished third with 185,000 viewers in the category, its lowest number in prime time since August 2015.

The top five programs in cable news saw Fox’s Sean Hannity take the top spot with an average of 3.14 million viewers. Hannity’s lead-in, Tucker Carlson, was second with 2.76 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow with 2.61 million, marking her lowest-rated month since President Trump’s inauguration.

Rounding out the top five programs were Fox’s “The Ingraham Angle” with 2.415 million total viewers and “The Five” with 2.33 million.

CNN’s highest-rated program was “Cuomo Prime Time,” which finished 25th overall among the three cable news networks in total viewers with an average of 938,000 viewers tuning in per night.