WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Fox News host Tucker Carlson discusses ‘Populism and the Right’ during … [+]
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Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson was the most-watched host in cable news in April, leading all other shows with an average audience of more than 3 million viewers. Tucker Carlson Tonight also finished first among viewers 25-54 on the month, with an average audience of 523,000 viewers, according to ratings data compiled by Nielsen.
In prime time overall, Fox News finished well ahead of the cable news competition with an average audience of 2.24 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.6 million viewers) and CNN (1.0 million viewers). All three networks saw big declines in year-over-year ratings, due largely to fall-off from the 2020 presidential campaign. CNN’s drop, 47%, was the steepest, followed by Fox News (down 39%) and MSNBC (down 22%).
In the key demo, Fox News had the largest prime time audience, 368,000 viewers—down 45% from one year ago. CNN took second place in prime with 276,000 viewers, but had the largest year-over-year decline, down 52%. MSNBC finished third with 227,000 viewers, down 32%.
Rachel Maddow on the set of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” in New York
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MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show was the highest-rated non-Fox show in April, with the network claiming a fifth consecutive month with Maddow winning the 9 p.m. ET hour with a total audience of 2.82 million viewers.
Fox News, using a different metric of viewers watching live and those that watched the same day, reported Hannity as the winner at 9 p.m., with a total audience of 2.73 million viewers, just ahead of Maddow’s 2.71 million. In the key demo, Hannity jumps to second place overall with 449,000 viewers, while Maddow slips to 4th with 396,000.
