Here’s How Crucial Sean Hannity Is to Fox News

Phew! For a minute there, Fox News looked like it was going to lose Sean Hannity (too).

On Tuesday, the conservative cable news host’s cryptic social media behavior led many to wonder if he was leaving the cable news network. Instead, on his actual 10 p.m. ET self-titled show, Hannity reaffirmed that he will stick with Fox as long as it wants him. His leaving would have been a big problem for Fox News Channel, which is not without problems these days.

In April, the network fired its biggest ratings magnet, Bill O’Reilly, after reports that he and the network had paid out $13 million to settle complaints accusing him of sexual harassment and other impropriety. The network’s founder, Roger Ailes, died last week, months after he left in disgrace after facing his own accusations of sexual harassment.

Last week, MSNBC beat both CNN and Fox News in weekday primetime among both total viewers and the key news demo for the first time ever. However, Fox News continues to lead MSNBC and CNN in all categories for the month of May.

Also Read: Sean Hannity Backs Off Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory 'At This Time' (Video)

Here’s how important Hannity — and “Hannity” — are to Fox News.

In the first quarter of 2017, “Hannity” handed FNC its highest-rated quarter ever in the 10 pm. ET time slot, hauling in 2.9 million total viewers on average, with 668,000 of them coming from the key 25-54 demographic.

That overall audience haul made “Hannity” the fifth-most-watched series on cable news. In the main demo, “Hannity” was the third-biggest series across cable news. In other words, “Hannity” helped Fox News achieve primetime growth of 20 percent overall and 19 percent in the demo.

Good thing for the network he’s sticking around.

Also Read: Sean Hannity Slams 'Liberal Fascism' of Media Matters in Twitter Rant: 'They Hope to Get Me Fired'

In April, “Hannity” took how the bronze by both above-mentioned metrics, when FNC’s prime was up 28 percent overall and 42 percent in the demo.

Nowadays, without “The O’Reilly Factor” as a lead-in anymore, “Hannity” will likely decline a bit in TV ratings — but it also doesn’t have a whopper of a show standing in its way as far as the rankings are concerned.

“Hannity” had no Nielsen issues last night, however. The Twitter-hyped episode soared 50 percent in total viewers and 68 percent in the main demo versus the same day in 2016.

In other words, with no O’Reilly, no Megyn Kelly and no Greta Van Susteren, Fox News will likely keep the happy-to-be-here Hannity for as long as humanly possible.