Fox News wins cable news ratings crown for 67th straight quarter

Fox News Channel finished the third quarter of 2018 as the most-watched cable news network among total viewers for the 67th consecutive quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research.

FNC was also the top rated cable news network among the key demo of adults age 25-54 for the 67th straight quarter and has now won primetime for 42 consecutive quarters.

Fox News – which celebrates its 22nd anniversary this weekend – averaged 1.4 million total viewers during the third quarter, compared to 1 million for MSNBC and only 722,000 for CNN. Both Fox News and MSNBC gained viewers compared to the third quarter of 2017, but CNN was down nine percent.

During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, Fox News averaged 2.5 million viewers – up 14 percent from Q3 2017 -- compared to 1.9 million for MSNBC and 1 million for CNN. Both MSNBC and CNN saw a decline compared to last year.

Fox News was home to nine of the top 15 cable news programs among total viewers and seven of the top 15 in the demo, as “Hannity” topped both categories. “Hannity” averaged 3.3 million viewers, topping MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” which averaged 2.9 million. “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “The Ingraham Angle” and “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” round out the top five, immediately followed by “The Five,” “Special Report with Bret Baier” and “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”

The most-watched show on CNN was “Cuomo Prime Time,” which finished No. 23 overall in the cable news rankings, averaging 1.2 million viewers.

“Hannity” also prevailed in the key demo, averaging 625,000 viewers age 25-54, followed by Maddow’s 573,000. Cuomo was CNN’s most-watched show, averaging 398,000 viewers to finish eighth.

Fox Business Network ended the quarter as the most-watched business network for the eighth consecutive quarter, beating CNBC among business day, market hours and total viewers.

Fox News Digital also had its best quarter ever with 6.5 billion views, according to data from Adobe Analytics. The site’s page views increased 16 percent from last year, while Fox News’ mobile app also had its highest quarter with 9.7 million unique devices.

Fox Nation -- the new on-demand, subscription-based streaming service -- will debut in the fourth quarter of 2018. The service will feature exclusive content from some of Fox News Channel’s biggest stars, including Hannity, Ingraham, Carlson and Brit Hume. Tomi Lahren and Britt McHenry will join  FNC’s prime time stars on the streaming service, along with "Fox & Friends” co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy and “The Five” co-hosts Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino and Judge Jeanine Pirro.

All ratings data is courtesy of the Nielsen Media Research.