119 Cable Channels Ranked by 2020 Viewership: A Good Year for Cable News (and TLC)

Fox News was again the most-watched cable channel in primetime, but there were a few surprises

December 29, 2020 @ 2:20 PM

Everyone would like to forget 2020. Well, maybe not Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN. (Shout-out to TLC as well.) Fox News was again the most-watched cable channel in primetime, averaging 3.7 million total viewers each night from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., according to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day ratings. That’s 1.2 million more viewers than last year. Elections are big business, whether or not your side wins. With very few sports and unlimited politics, MSNBC (2.2 million) leapfrogged past ESPN (1.5 million) to become runner-up on the year. CNN (1.8) also surpassed the sports channel, making a huge move from ninth place in 2019 to third place in 2020. Behind the main cable news channels were ESPN (fourth) and HGTV (fifth, 1.2 million). TLC jumped from 11th last year to sixth this year — the lone newbie to the Top 10, thanks to “90 Day Fiance.” USA Network fell out of the Top 10, making way for TLC. USA ended up in 13th place. Rounding out that group of the 10 most-watched cable channels of 2020 were Hallmark Channel, TBS, TNT and History Channel. By this point in the story, you’re probably wondering what channel finished 119th out of 119. That would be Comedy.TV. Again. In terms of total day (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.) viewing, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN were 1, 2 and 3 again, respectively. HGTV and Hallmark jumped ESPN to make the Starting 5. Nickelodeon, Food Network, ID and TNT rounded out the Top 10. Just like in primetime, USA Network again fell out of the Top 10. While Nick did not, it had a pretty unfortunate fall from fourth place to seventh place. Poor Comedy.TV brought up the pack once more here with an average of just 2,000 viewers. Wonder what kind of programming they air anyway… Find 2019’s rankings by both vantage points here. Below, we’ve ranked the cable channels based off of Live + Same Day ratings and not include delayed viewing. While there is certainly a very good argument to have included DVR viewing, in a year when sports were at a premium and news was more vital (and abundant) than ever, we stuck with the way those mediums are almost entirely consumed. We studied the rankings with one week of delayed viewing, and not a whole lot changed. In primetime, for example, TLC leaps over HGTV, History and the otherwise 11th-place Discovery Channel also move up, dropping TNT out of the Top 10. Here are the 2020 primetime (8 p.m. through 11 p.m., Monday through Sunday) averages and rankings:

Rank	Network	Viewers (000)
1	FOX NEWS CHANNEL	3,651
2	MSNBC	2,153
3	CNN	1,794
4	ESPN	1,451
5	HOME AND GARDEN TV	1,211
6	TLC	1,143
7	HALLMARK CHANNEL	1,047
8	TBS NETWORK	1,042
9	TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION	925
10	HISTORY	889
11	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	841
12	FOOD NETWORK	822
13	USA NETWORK	799
14	A&E NETWORK	749
15	INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY	693
16	INSP	640
17	BRAVO	575
18	TV LAND	561
19	HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES	546
20	LIFETIME TELEVISION	537
21	FX	532
22	AMC	511
23	ADULT SWIM	506
24	FREEFORM	444
25	NICK-AT-NITE	434
25	GSN	434
27	SYFY	430
28	WETV	413
29	PARAMOUNT	404
30	ANIMAL PLANET	381
31	NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC	372
31	TRAVEL CHANNEL	372
33	BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV	345
33	MTV	345
35	DISNEY CHANNEL	342
36	COMEDY CENTRAL	327
37	NICK JR	321
38	E!	306
39	DISNEY JUNIOR	305
40	VH1	298
41	HBO PRIME	295
41	OXYGEN MEDIA	295
43	LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK	268
44	OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK	267
45	HLN	258
45	SCIENCE	258
47	NAT GEO WILD	247
48	NBC SPORTS NETWORK	240
49	CNBC	235
50	DIY NETWORK	229
51	FOX SPORTS 1	227
51	MOTOR TREND	227
53	FXX	222
54	CMT	221
55	BBC-AMERICA	220
56	WGN AMERICA	214
57	SUNDANCE TV	205
58	NFL NETWORK	203
59	IFC TV	200
60	ESPN2	196
61	POP	195
62	FAMILY ENT TV	191
63	TRUTV	188
64	THE WEATHER CHANNEL	172
65	COOKING CHANNEL	137
66	GALAVISION	127
66	TV ONE	127
68	FX MOVIE CHANNEL	120
68	FYI	120
70	UP	117
71	REELZCHANNEL	116
72	NEWSMAX TV	113
73	SMITHSONIAN	111
74	SHOWTIME PRIME	106
75	HALLMARK DRAMA	104
76	FOX BUSINESS NETWORK	103
77	STARZ PRIMARY	101
78	GOLF CHANNEL	95
78	TUDN	95
80	AMERICAN HEROES CHANNEL	94
81	GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY	91
82	DESTINATION AMERICA	90
82	DISNEY XD	90
84	BOOMERANG	89
84	NICKTOONS	89
86	UNIVERSO	85
87	MLB NETWORK	75
88	DISCOVERY EN ESPANOL	74
89	RFD-TV	71
90	STARZ ENCORE PRIMARY	70
91	VICE	68
92	OVATION	64
93	AXS TV	59
94	TEENNICK	57
95	BIG TEN NETWORK	55
95	DISCOVERY LIFE CHANNEL	55
97	DISCOVERY FAMILY CHANNEL	54
97	MTV2	54
99	NBA-TV	47
100	ESPNU	44
100	FOX DEPORTES	44
100	LOGO	44
103	DISCOVERY FAMILIA	39
104	BET HER	38
104	TENNIS CHANNEL	38
106	MAXPRIME	37
107	ESPNEWS	36
108	BABY FIRST TV	35
109	ESPN DEPORTES	32
109	UNIVERSAL KIDS	32
111	CNN EN ESPANOL	26
112	FOX SPORTS 2	25
113	FUSE	21
114	JUSTICE CENTRAL	11
115	NEWSY	9
116	BEIN SPORT ESPANOL	8
117	EL REY	7
118	BEIN SPORT	4
119	COMEDY.TV	3

And in terms of total day (6 a.m. to 6 a.m., Monday through Sunday), the results and rankings look like this:

Rank	Network	Viewers (000)
1	FOX NEWS CHANNEL	1,915
2	MSNBC	1,245
3	CNN	1,133
4	HOME AND GARDEN TV	681
5	HALLMARK CHANNEL	582
6	ESPN	546
7	NICKELODEON	518
8	FOOD NETWORK	509
8	INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY	509
10	TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION	478
11	HISTORY	470
12	USA NETWORK	456
13	TBS NETWORK	434
14	TV LAND	421
15	TLC	416
16	A&E NETWORK	411
17	INSP	377
18	HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES	374
19	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	359
20	GSN	323
21	DISNEY CHANNEL	303
22	LIFETIME TELEVISION	302
23	THE CARTOON NETWORK	283
24	DISNEY JUNIOR	281
25	FX	278
26	AMC	268
27	WETV	265
28	PARAMOUNT	263
29	MTV	247
30	FREEFORM	238
31	NICK JR	233
32	HLN	229
33	COMEDY CENTRAL	227
34	OXYGEN MEDIA	226
35	ANIMAL PLANET	225
36	TRAVEL CHANNEL	222
36	SYFY	222
38	BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV	212
39	BRAVO	208
40	NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC	203
41	WGN AMERICA	189
42	LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK	188
43	VH1	174
44	CNBC	171
45	SCIENCE	164
46	E!	163
47	OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK	152
48	MOTOR TREND	149
49	NAT GEO WILD	148
50	THE WEATHER CHANNEL	144
51	FOX BUSINESS NETWORK	142
52	CMT	139
53	DIY NETWORK	135
54	FXX	131
54	SUNDANCE TV	131
56	BBC-AMERICA	129
57	FOX SPORTS 1	119
58	TRUTV	118
59	HBO PRIME	117
60	NBC SPORTS NETWORK	110
61	POP	107
62	ESPN2	106
63	NICKTOONS	103
63	IFC TV	103
65	NFL NETWORK	96
66	UP	92
66	FAMILY ENT TV	92
68	NEWSMAX TV	87
68	TV ONE	87
70	COOKING CHANNEL	84
70	GOLF CHANNEL	84
72	BOOMERANG	82
73	FX MOVIE CHANNEL	80
74	DISNEY XD	79
75	FYI	77
76	HALLMARK DRAMA	72
76	SMITHSONIAN	72
78	AMERICAN HEROES CHANNEL	71
79	REELZCHANNEL	68
80	TEENNICK	64
81	GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY	58
82	DESTINATION AMERICA	56
83	STARZ PRIMARY	53
83	SHOWTIME PRIME	53
85	GALAVISION	50
86	UNIVERSO	45
87	STARZ ENCORE PRIMARY	44
88	MLB NETWORK	42
88	OVATION	42
90	MTV2	40
91	VICE	37
92	LOGO	36
93	UNIVERSAL KIDS	35
94	TUDN	34
95	DISCOVERY LIFE CHANNEL	33
95	BABY FIRST TV	33
95	DISCOVERY EN ESPANOL	33
98	DISCOVERY FAMILY CHANNEL	29
98	TENNIS CHANNEL	29
100	NBA-TV	26
100	BET HER	26
102	RFD-TV	24
102	AXS TV	24
104	ESPNU	23
105	MAXPRIME	22
106	ESPNEWS	21
107	BIG TEN NETWORK	19
108	DISCOVERY FAMILIA	16
109	FOX DEPORTES	15
110	FOX SPORTS 2	13
110	CNN EN ESPANOL	13
110	ESPN DEPORTES	13
113	FUSE	12
114	BEIN SPORT ESPANOL	10
115	JUSTICE CENTRAL	7
116	EL REY	6
117	NEWSY	5
118	BEIN SPORT	4
119	COMEDY.TV	2

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