Fox News extended its ratings winning streak by topping all networks in both primetime and total day viewers last week among basic cable channels, despite stiff competition from one of the year’s biggest sporting events.
March 14-20 marked Fox News’ ninth consecutive week as the No. 1 basic cable channel in total day viewers (1.4 million), marking another all-time ratings record for the network and cable news.
In primetime, FNC topped basic cable by averaging 2.6 million viewers, even outranking March Madness games on TBS and TNT and AMC’s hit “The Walking Dead.”
HGTV joins Fox News, TBS, TNT and AMC among the Top 5 primetime networks. Nickelodeon, Adult Swim, HGTV and TNT join Fox News in the Top 5 networks among total day viewers.
CNN also had a terrific week, finishing No. 7 in both categories. MSNBC failed to crack the Top 10, finishing No. 12 in primetime and No. 15 in total day.
TruTV finished ninth because of its involvement in Turner’s NCAA package, while ESPN fell all the way to No. 24 despite nonstop coverage of the NCAA Tournament.
The takeaway is that March Madness games rate very well, but ESPN’s analysis does not.