Fox News was again the most-watched cable channel in primetime, but there were a few surprises
Everyone would like to forget 2020. Well, maybe not Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN. (Shout-out to TLC as well.)
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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).
Also Read: 15 New Fall TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers, From 'Big Sky' to 'Nurses' (Photos)
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.
Also Read: How 'The View' Is Pulling Even More Viewers Now Than in 2016
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…
Also Read: Nielsen Will Finally Combine Linear and Digital Viewing Into One Number - but It'll Take a Few Years
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.
Also Read: 'The Queen's Gambit' Is First Program to 3-Peat Atop Nielsen's Streaming Ratings
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 |
Also Read: Ratings: Dolly Parton's 'A Holly Dolly Christmas' on CBS Warms More Than 6 Million Hearts
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 |
Tony Maglio
TV Editor • tony.maglio@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tonymaglio