November 2009 Cable News Ratings: Fox News Tops For 95th Consecutive Month

Fox News was tops among cable news networks in November for the 95th consecutive month, taking the top 13 programs in a month that saw every network drop year-over-year from the 2008 election surge.

In primetime, Fox News averaged 2.203 million total viewers (down 14% from November 2008) and 583,000 A25-54 viewers (down 14% from November 2008). But that's nothing compared to the drastic declines at MSNBC and CNN: MSNBC was down 53% in total viewers and 60% in the demo, while CNN fell 60% in total viewers and a whopping 71% in the demo. HLN's losses were not as severe, with the re-branded network down just 17% in total viewers and 23% in A25-54 viewers from November 2008, when it was CNN Headline News.

In total day, Fox News and HLN again suffered mild declines while CNN and MSNBC lost significant chunks of their audience. Fox News was down 4% in total viewers and 9% in the demo, and HLN was down 8% in total viewers and 5% in the demo. Meanwhile, MSNBC was down 49% in total viewers and 56% in the demo, and CNN was down 49% in total viewers and 63% in the demo.

Cable News Programs
Fox News took the top 13 programs in total viewers and the top 10 programs in the A25-54 demographic.

"The O'Reilly Factor" won the top slot with 3.669 million total viewers. "Glenn Beck" came in second (2.671 million total viewers); "Hannity" (2.639 million total viewers) and, interestingly, Fox News' two signature evening news programs — "Special Report with Bret Baier" (2.321 million total viewers), and "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith" (2.101 million total viewers) — rounded out the top five. MSNBC's "Countdown" was the top-rated non-Fox cable news program, averaging 1.067 million total viewers.

Several Fox News programs also stemmed the tide of massive year-over-year losses against Election 2008 coverage and actually increased their ratings in the demo. "O'Reilly" was up 12% while "Countdown" and "Campbell Brown" were both down 62% at 8PM, and "Hannity" was up 4% while "Larry King Live" was down 59% and "Rachel Maddow" was down 63% at 9PM. Earlier in the evening, "Special Report with Bret Baier" was up 5% and "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith" was flat. "Special Report" and "The O'Reilly Factor" actually had their best months of 2009 in both total viewers and the demo, and the "Fox Report" had its best month of 2009 in total viewers.

CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" had a particularly rough November, placing second in total viewers with 672,000 but crashing in the demographic. "AC 360" was down 70% over November 2008 in the A25-54 demographic, averaging 209,000 A25-54 and coming in behind repeats of MSNBC's "Countdown" and HLN's "Nancy Grace."

November 2009 Program Rankers -

Cable Network Rankings
ESPN won the month in primetime on the strength of "Monday Night Football," but Fox News came in third behind USA. MSNBC placed 26th and CNN placed 27th.

In total day programming, Fox News placed 5th, behind Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, USA, and ESPN. CNN placed 26th, while MSNBC did not place in the top 30.

Cable Time Period Rankers -

Comments

[Rick3280]

01:57 PM on 12/06/2009

The finale of Tila Tequila had better than 6 million viewers. People are going to watch what they want to watch, that which appeals to them and says what they want to hear. Fox does not challenge, does not provoke thought. Ask yourself what percentage is 2 million their reach? Which is about 102 million households?

[Chuck849]

02:12 PM on 12/06/2009

Hey Ricko, that is only a sampling of the households. Not everybody is hooked up or surveyed. Get a grip. F O X rules

[jdacal]

03:16 AM on 12/06/2009

I don't know, but it seems to me that way too many people take these "ratings" literally. I trust them about as far as I trust the rating companies that Wall Street used to sell junk . They probably have the same deal going.

It really does defy logic that with the current, very small right wing political minority, a right wing broadcaster would have a majority of the viewers.

Then again, maybe not that many people watch TV now-a-days. Maybe the true majority who is getting their news off the web isn't being accurately counted. Maybe a more accurate version would say that 60% are on the web and 40% are watching FOX and the other networks.

The numbers just don't make a lot of sense, if you really think about it. I stopped reading/watching the major network news a long time ago, I'm sure I am not the only one. I use the word "news" very loosely here.

[Pupadup4oBama]

02:38 PM on 12/06/2009

I don't take much stock in these things either.
Why do we care what the ratings for a tv show or channel are....it's not that important in the grand scheme of things

[nomobull]

01:23 AM on 12/06/2009

fox is just leaking viewers slowier but they are down too.

[Chuck849]

02:15 PM on 12/06/2009

Gee even Nancy Grace beats Olbermann

[AudiGuy]

10:49 PM on 12/05/2009

Maybe its me, but I do recall there was a big event about this time last year? Could this explain why all cable News is down?

[revko]

09:48 PM on 12/05/2009

A whole lotta people watch porn too

Doesn't mean it's good for them

[msbeal]

07:42 PM on 12/05/2009

People who watch Teabagger News have to tune in because if they didn't they'd be lost. They can't form a cogent sentence without a great deal of coaching and Beckian hand holding and it's impossible for them to synthesize diverse information sources such as books.

So like pod people they tune nightly to the mother ship for their marching orders. Otherwise they'd be walking around in circles clutching their guns and bibles muttering bitter inanities.

[audit]

09:02 PM on 12/05/2009

talk about not having a cognitive thought.......

[jdrourke]

04:08 PM on 12/05/2009

Fox *News has been on top for 95 months straight! I really hope Americans will begin to speak the truth and admit that there isn't a "Mainstream Liberal Media," given that for 8 YEARS the Conservatives have run the media however they felt. News-radio, talk-radio, and on-line newspapers are also primarily conservative. The truth is, like it or not, that we have a "Mainstream Conservative Media"...

Which is why the following funny letter is dipped in sarcasm...

http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/thats-quite-enough-liberal-media/

[evil goat]

03:32 PM on 12/05/2009

The fewer people watching 24-hour news networks the better.

fox, msnbc, cnn, they're all garbage.

[nvr2late]

07:16 PM on 12/05/2009

Sorry. I disagree. MSNBC, especially Rachel Maddow, is the best of the best. She has great guests and does her homework like no other. She really tries to educate us instead of throwing garbage at us, the viewers, and spinning everything out of control.

[EscapeTireTube]

07:32 PM on 12/05/2009

and she really has a low opinion of herself

[evil goat]

10:29 PM on 12/05/2009

It is still an opinion show. I used to watch it occasionally but I just don't think that anything of substance is added to the conversation. Every night it's just yeah I get it, republicans are stupid and fox news is biased. There's no investigation or relevant reporting, it's just a rehash of republican talking points with snide remarks and winks to the audience.

Bill Moyers is the best of the best and a national hero. Everyone on msnbc is just sloppy seconds.

[jbell1652]

10:32 AM on 12/05/2009

I figure it this way. CNN and MSNBC are for the most part viewed by Dems and Indys, right. Now what is talked about on the night time opinion shws? Afghanistan, healthcare and the economy/jobs. Though important issues, you can only take so much. What people want to know are the facts of what was accomplished on these issues and they can tune into the evening news to find out, (this is what happened in the senate today, this is what happened in Afghanistan today). Once most Dems and Indys get that info, they turn to "regular" tv to be entertained with movies, sitcoms etc. Heck, Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer got 10 million viewers last week and that's a 30 year-old cartoon. Fox viewers are mostly conservative Repubs. Now to them listening to Beck. Oreilly and Hannity spend night after night sitting there criticizing and predicting the end of the world under Obama and the Dems --- this "is" entertainment, (eventhough the also accept it a factual new).

[DahliaZ]

11:53 AM on 12/05/2009

You mischaracterize Fox viewers to fit your hypothesis. Pew and Gallup research has shown that Fox has the most broadly based viewership based on political views. Conservatives consistently rank in the upper 30s% of it's total viewership, with independents next in low/mid 30s% and liberals in the low 30s%.

So actually, most Fox viewers are NOT conservative.

[mamacat]

05:05 AM on 12/05/2009

Fox is a really well run business....but they are a really, really bad News outlet. They are getting so desperate for ratings, they don't even pretend to be truthful.

[Vetinari]

06:53 PM on 12/05/2009

They actually fight for their right to lie...

[Fair]

01:21 AM on 12/05/2009

What's hilarious is that Faux News is now the mainstream media, no matter how much they pretend they are not..

[DahliaZ]

11:58 AM on 12/05/2009

What's sad is this anti-Fox hysteria and fetishism. Those who continually foam at the mouth when speaking about Fox have no idea how silly (at best) they sound to those of us who actually watch it. It's so obvious to us that you don't watch it, have no idea of what's really televised there, and get all your information about Fox from those media outlets who have an agenda against Fox. Really - it's hard to convey just how shallow such sniping rings and how poorly it reflects on those doing the sniping.

[msbeal]

07:33 PM on 12/05/2009

bla bla bla

[sleeperd]

08:37 PM on 12/04/2009

Maybe it's because instead of trying to cover up a worldwide story like Climategate, FoxNews actually reports the news.

[graphicnovel]

12:28 AM on 12/05/2009

I know! At least Gore cancelled his 1200 dollar handshake dinner, out of shame. I read somewhere the Saudis don't beleive in global warming, and they beleive in jinns! Yet the media, except for fox, want to talk about Tiger Woods or Sara Palin and other unimportant fluff.

[lovetolast]

12:39 AM on 12/05/2009

Hopefully, you meant that comment as a joke.

[washlib]

07:04 PM on 12/04/2009

guess what? Cable news DOESNT MATTER! Viewership is miniscule compared to the networks..

[thos]

09:21 PM on 12/04/2009

I can tell by the miniscule attention that this site give to it.

[plaidsportcoat]

06:42 PM on 12/04/2009

I don't get why people choose Fox. Pretty ladies, for the fella I know who watches it.

[CommunistUtopia]

05:24 PM on 12/04/2009

It's because the other networks are all the same. All the talk about are the same tired, ineffective left-wing ideas that have failed time and time again. Fox has a good niche right now. It looks like they will be very successful for a long time.

[washlib]

07:03 PM on 12/04/2009

haha, keep pushing that 1nsane idea that news networks are leftwing, you know it's disingenous at best, but then you probably don't have a brain cell available to second guess the hann1ty/ditto pr0paganda you swim in.