Fox News Channel dominated the month of August to finish its 14th straight month as the most-viewed network among all of cable, but rivals MSNBC and CNN showed significant growth during a wild month for news.
Fox News averaged 1.4 million total viewers, while Nickelodeon averaged 1.2 million to finish second among the total day category. MSNBC averaged a smidge over one million viewers to finish third, and CNN averaged 832,000 to finish fourth. Adult Swim, HGTV, Cartoon Network, Investigation Discovery, USA and Nick-at-Nite round out the Top 10.
While Fox News had the most viewers, MSNBC showed more growth and finished August up 55 percent compared to the same month in 2016. CNN grew 23 percent and Fox News finished up eight percent during the busy month that featured President Trump making news on a regular basis and the tragic events in Charlottesville.
Fox News was also the most watched network during primetime, averaging 2.2 million viewers from 8-11 p.m., while MSNBC finished second with an average of 1.8 million primetime viewers.
USA averaged 1.5 million to finished third, followed by HGTV and TBS, while CNN’s 1.2 million viewers ranked sixth among all of cable.
MSNBC grew 63 percent compared to last August, while CNN also showed significant growth during primetime, gaining 41 percent. Fox News went up six percent over the same time period.
Fox News beat MSNBC and CNN across the board in the key news demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 303,000 demo total viewers and 466,000 during primetime. However, CNN was close and averaged 277,000 during total day and 418,000 from 8-11 p.m. MSNBC finished third in the demo, picking up 231,000 total demo viewers and 401,000 during primetime.
Fox News has now been the most-watched cable news network in both total day and primetime among total viewers for 188 consecutive months. Meanwhile, Fox Business Network, the sister of Fox News, averaged 194,000 business day viewers compared to 154,000 for rival CNBC. It marks the tenth month that Fox Business has topped CNBC in viewers while the stock market is open.