Fox News Tops All of Basic Cable for 31st Consecutive Week

Nickelodeon, MSNBC also deliver strong total day viewership

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Fox News averaged 1.3 million total viewers last week to finished as the most-watched cable network for the 31st consecutive week from July 31 through Aug. 6.

Nickelodeon averaged 1.2 million viewers to finish second, while MSNBC averaged 969,000 to finish third. HGTV and The Cartoon Network round out the top five among total viewers.

Fox News also won the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. for the 11th week in a row, averaging 2.2 million primetime viewers for the week. MSNBC averaged 1.8 million to finish second, while USA averaged 1.5 million to come in third. HGTV and TBS join FNC, MSNBC and USA among the top five most-watched primetime networks.

Episodes of FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” made up four of the top 12 cable telecasts and the network’s programs made up 11 of the top 25 shows on cable for the week, including various editions of “The Five,” “Hannity” and “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

FNC’s cable news rival CNN finished No. 7 in both categories, averaging 1.3 million total day viewers and 2.2 million during primetime. FNC’s sister, Fox Business Network, averaged 210,000 business day viewers to beat rival CNBC’s 153,000 business day viewers.

Rupert Murdoch’s news networks continues to thrive despite on-going drama behind the scenes. The latest controversey is “The Fox News Specialists” co-host Eric Bolling being suspended while the company investigates claims that he sent lewd photos to female colleagues.

“The anonymous, uncorroborated claims are untrue and terribly unfair,” Bolling’s lawyer, Michael Bowe, told CNNMoney in a statement on Saturday. “We intend to fully cooperate with the investigation so that it can be concluded and Eric can return to work as quickly as possible.”

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