MSNBC’s prime time line up swept the competition on Thursday night as news of Donald Trump’s federal indictment broke.
Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner, and Lawrence O’Donnell all won their respective hours between 8 and 11 p.m. in both total viewers and in the key 25-54 age demographic.
MSNBC led prime time averages with 2.43 million total viewers, followed closely by Fox News’s 2.15 million. CNN landed in third place with 1.13 million total viewers — a major boost for the network.
In the demo, MSNBC won prime time with 342,000 viewers, beating CNN’s 256,000. Fox News landed third with 231,000 prime time demo viewers as the network continues to regain viewers lost after Tucker Carlson, who often led cable news in the demo, was fired.
Fox News still won the day in total day demo and total viewer averages.
Here is a full breakdown of Thursday’s cable news ratings by show:
Total Viewers (thousands)
| ET | FNC | CNN | MSNBC | NEWSMAX | NEWSNATION |
| 6a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 844 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 262 |
MORNING JOE: 1059 |
DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY: 53 |
EARLY MORNING: 25 |
| 7a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 1106 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 322 |
— | WAKE UP AMERICA: 211 |
MORNING IN AMERICA: 36 |
| 8a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 1265 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 418 |
— | — | — |
| 9a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 1320 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 448 |
MORNING JOE: 937 |
NATIONAL REPORT: 203 |
— |
| 10a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 1322 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 530 |
ANA CABRERA REPORTS: 710 |
— | NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES: 29 |
| 11a | FAULKNER FOCUS, THE: 1295 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 569 |
JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS: 687 |
— | — |
| 12p | OUTNUMBERED: 1432 |
INSIDE POLITICS: 583 |
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 741 |
JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 186 |
— |
| 1p | AMERICA REPORTS: 1247 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 444 |
CHRIS JANSING REPORTS: 776 |
— | NEWSNATION NOW: 42 |
| 2p | AMERICA REPORTS: 1119 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 544 |
MSNBC PRESS CONFERENCE: 939 [2:16 PM-2:59 PM] |
AMERICAN AGENDA: 150 |
— |
| 3p | STORY, THE: 1170 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 591 |
KATY TUR REPORTS: 952 |
— | NEWSNATION NOW W/ BERLIE: 48 |
| 4p | YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO: 1267 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 630 |
DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE: 1481 |
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 235 |
— |
| 5p | FIVE, THE: 2588 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 616 |
— | CARL HIGBIE FRONTLINE: 197 |
HILL, THE: 29 |
| 6p | SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER: 1727 |
SITUATION ROOM: 603 |
BEAT W/ARI MELBER: 1586 |
RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS: 258 |
ELIZABETH VARGAS REPORTS: 54 |
| 7p | JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME: 2212 |
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: 788 |
REIDOUT: 1397 |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 396 |
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 33 |
| 8p | FOX NEWS TONIGHT: 1904 |
ANDERSON COOPER 360: 1306 |
ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES: 2316 |
SCHMITT SPECIAL COVERAGE: 521 |
CUOMO: 160 |
| 9p | HANNITY: 2304 |
ANDERSON COOPER 360: 1190 |
ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT: 2530 |
GORKA SPECIAL COVERAGE: 385 |
DAN ABRAMS LIVE: 158 |
| 10p | INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE: 2256 |
TRUMP FEDERAL INDICTMENT: 909 |
LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL: 2608 |
GREG KELLY REPORTS: 374 |
BANFIELD: 89 |
| 11p | GUTFELD!: 1801 |
TRUMP FEDERAL INDICTMENT: 659 |
11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE: 1719 |
SALCEDO SPECIAL COVERAGE: 284 |
CUOMO: 87 |
25-54 Demo (thousands)
| ET | FNC | CNN | MSNBC | NEWSMAX | NEWSNATION |
| 6a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 125 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 51 |
MORNING JOE: 122 |
DICK MORRIS DEMOCRACY: 2 |
EARLY MORNING: 4 |
| 7a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 142 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 74 |
— | WAKE UP AMERICA: 30 |
MORNING IN AMERICA: 3 |
| 8a | FOX AND FRIENDS: 127 |
CNN THIS MORNING: 88 |
— | — | — |
| 9a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 134 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 101 |
MORNING JOE: 113 |
NATIONAL REPORT: 16 |
— |
| 10a | AMERICAS NEWSROOM: 144 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 107 |
ANA CABRERA REPORTS: 80 |
— | NWSN LIVE W/ MARNI HUGHES: 4 |
| 11a | FAULKNER FOCUS, THE: 161 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 107 |
JOSE DIAZ-BALART REPORTS: 91 |
— | — |
| 12p | OUTNUMBERED: 188 |
INSIDE POLITICS: 96 |
ANDREA MITCHELL REPORTS: 114 |
JOHN BACHMAN NOW: 11 |
— |
| 1p | AMERICA REPORTS: 169 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 66 |
CHRIS JANSING REPORTS: 95 |
— | NEWSNATION NOW: 5 |
| 2p | AMERICA REPORTS: 126 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 92 |
MSNBC PRESS CONFERENCE: 110 [2:16 PM-2:59 PM] |
AMERICAN AGENDA: 8 |
— |
| 3p | STORY, THE: 135 |
CNN NEWS CENTRAL: 89 |
KATY TUR REPORTS: 116 |
— | NEWSNATION NOW W/ BERLIE: 2 |
| 4p | YOUR WORLD W/NEIL CAVUTO: 148 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 122 |
DEADLINE:WHITE HOUSE: 156 |
CHRIS SALCEDO SHOW, THE: 8 |
— |
| 5p | FIVE, THE: 274 |
LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER: 131 |
— | CARL HIGBIE FRONTLINE: 9 |
HILL, THE: 1 |
| 6p | SPECIAL RPT W/BRET BAIER: 184 |
SITUATION ROOM: 141 |
BEAT W/ARI MELBER: 161 |
RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUS: 18 |
ELIZABETH VARGAS REPORTS: 6 |
| 7p | JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME: 200 |
ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: 166 |
REIDOUT: 190 |
ROB SCHMITT TONIGHT: 28 |
ON BALANCE W/ VITTERT: 5 |
| 8p | FOX NEWS TONIGHT: 177 |
ANDERSON COOPER 360: 272 |
ALL IN W/ CHRIS HAYES: 348 |
SCHMITT SPECIAL COVERAGE: 49 |
CUOMO: 18 |
| 9p | HANNITY: 245 |
ANDERSON COOPER 360: 263 |
ALEX WAGNER TONIGHT: 360 |
GORKA SPECIAL COVERAGE: 46 |
DAN ABRAMS LIVE: 36 |
| 10p | INGRAHAM ANGLE, THE: 271 |
TRUMP FEDERAL INDICTMENT: 232 |
LAST WORD W/ L. ODONNELL: 319 |
GREG KELLY REPORTS: 34 |
BANFIELD: 15 |
| 11p | GUTFELD!: 253 |
TRUMP FEDERAL INDICTMENT: 140 |
11TH HOUR W/ S. RUHLE: 251 |
SALCEDO SPECIAL COVERAGE: 25 |
CUOMO: 19 |
As for the three cable news networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.
Total viewers:
CNN: 606,000
Fox News: 1.44 million
MSNBC: 1.27 million
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 125,000
Fox News: 170,000
MSNBC: 165,000
Here are the prime time averages — encompassing shows which air from 8-11 p.m. — in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.
Total viewers:
CNN: 1.13 million
Fox News: 2.15 million
MSNBC: 2.43 million
25-54 Demo:
CNN: 256,000
Fox News: 231,000
MSNBC: 342,000
For more ratings information and analysis go to ShowBuzz Daily.
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