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Fox News dominates cable ratings with new prime-time schedule

Fox News commentator Jesse Watters appears at an event in 2021. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
Fox News commentator Jesse Watters appears at an event in 2021. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)

The new prime-time schedule at the Fox News Channel was an apparent hit with cable news viewers right out of the gate, with the network dominating in overall viewership and key demographic ratings Monday evening.

Preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research showed Fox News grabbed an average of 2.23 million viewers between the hours of 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., about 582,000 more than MSNBC and 1.64 million more than CNN during the same time period. In the key demographic of adults between the ages of 25 and 54, Fox News averaged 181,000 viewers, about 20,000 more than MSNBC and 64,000 more than CNN.



The new prime-time schedule kicked off with Laura Ingraham’s “The Ingraham Angle” at 7 p.m., followed by the debut of “Jesse Waters Primetime” at 8 p.m. and “Hannity” at 9 p.m. The programming block concluded with “Gutfeld!” in its new time slot at 10 p.m.

The Ingraham Angle at 7 p.m. drew 2.1 million overall viewers to Fox News, while Jesse Watters Primetime grabbed 2.5 million viewers for its inaugural 8 p.m. episode (which concluded with a short phone call from Watters’ mother, continuing an unusual trend among cable news programs). Hannity continued the momentum with 2.2 million overall viewers at 9 p.m. — about four times the audience of CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” which airs at the same time. “Gutfeld!” drew 2.1 million overall viewers.



Fox News Channel is operated by Fox News Media, a subsidiary of Fox Corporation.

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Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting. Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn by clicking or tapping here.
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