Cable News Ratings: Top 30 Programs For January 2011 (PHOTOS)

In a way, January's cable news ratings are no surprise: Fox News overwhelmed the competition, and MSNBC beat CNN. But there were some interesting tidbits to be found in the end-of-the-month rankings. For starters, Glenn Beck's spot on the list slid down for the second time in three months. Beck used to be assured the #3 slot. But in November, he was pushed to fourth, and in January, he fell further to #5, behind "Fox Report With Shepard Smith." Moreover, "Special Report With Bret Baier" seems to have secured the #2 spot, which used to belong to Sean Hannity.

How did all the individual shows do? Below, see the top 30 programs for January 2011.

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1. The O'Reilly Factor

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Fox News -- 2.973 million total viewers

Mortified Local News Reporter Does Not Realize She's On Air, Talks About Her Paleness (VIDEO)

Rush Limbaugh Flips About CNN's Low Ratings, Anderson Cooper's Presence In Gossip Columns (AUDIO)

Rush Limbaugh Ad Boycott Cost Cumulus Radio 'Millions,' CEO Says

gadgets/slideshows/197113/slide_197113_475913_small.jpg

Whoopi Goldberg: George Zimmerman's Apology Has 'No Bearing' For Trayvon Martin's Parents (VIDEO)

gadgets/slideshows/209837/slide_209837_701659_small.jpg

Fox News' Monica Crowley: Sandra Fluke Is Engaged 'To A Man'?

Chris Matthews Calls Republican Party 'Grand Wizard Crowd' (VIDEO)

Fox News -- 2.973 million total viewers

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Comments

[Matthew Cooke]

11:44 PM on 02/28/2011

Anyone else find it interesting that the top "news" show is still boasting no more than 1% of the entire population of the country. Seems to me, nobody's watching broadcast news anymore.

[blorenzo]

07:26 AM on 02/22/2011

Well, im not surprised.. Fox is the only real channel out there for conservative news and opinion shows. Since there is no alternative at that level, the concentration of viewers will be high. Unlike left leaning channels where viewership is spread around a broad selection of content and the benefit of having many different perspectives. I have a problem with people getting their news from one source...one opinion...its almost like shall I say..entertainment mind-programming?...lol

[mollysmomma]

12:33 AM on 02/11/2011

I don't care how many people watch fox.................but, i do worry about how many lies they are told on that channel.

[militaryvet84]

05:17 AM on 02/24/2011

what lies?

[ElenaOfJersey]

07:49 PM on 03/11/2011

Everything that comes out of Glenn Beck's mouth, and about 2/3s of what comes out of O'Reilly's.

[Judith Mason]

06:34 PM on 02/09/2011

We're definitely in the Last Days!

[militaryvet84]

05:18 AM on 02/24/2011

last days… of liberal bias in the media!!!

[Jamf]

07:37 PM on 02/08/2011

That so many FoxPac shows are placing high in the ratings says something about the viewing audience, and I'm pretty sure it's not good, no matter how the data is sliced.

[tb91006]

10:46 PM on 03/01/2011

Sad when people like you promote race baiting.

[Jamf]

08:43 AM on 03/02/2011

How, exactly, did you get "race-baiting" out of that remark? IQ points in the double digits? Now that's a different story.

[katiek486]

07:28 PM on 02/08/2011

Which is more embarrassing- a) msnbc's "top" show being beat by "The Factor" REPEAT at 11pm or b) msnbc's "top" primetime show being beat by several non-primetime "general news" shows throughout the day on fox, one of which is simply called "America's Newsroom"? I didn't include CNN because it might make AC upset that his "number one" show at CNN only gets half the amount of viewers of a very competitive show on another network that airs around the same time....What a second...JUST realized I made a mistake...I mistook the "AM" for "PM" with regards to that 'competitive show', "America's Newsroom", which for AC doesn't really make anything better given that his show cannot even get half the viewer numbers that a late morning aimless news-show on fox.

[tb91006]

10:48 PM on 03/01/2011

MSNBC is an embarassment period.

[Richard Simpkins]

03:37 PM on 03/24/2011

MSNBC is simply an ancillary arm of NBC news. NBC's evening news (with Brian Williams) more than triples the top cable news show (O'Reilly). Network news has a total of 23 million viewers. That's where the real action is.

[scottaarrg]

12:36 AM on 02/08/2011

I will still always consider hannity as #2 just a little flushed

[Allen Reed Jensen]

09:57 PM on 02/07/2011

Wow, Beck is still number five in the middle of the top eleven shows that were all on Fox News. I think in December Olbermann was number thirteen and for most of January he was number twelve. Overall he was good for business but new management didn't like him and that was enough for them. I liked Pierce Morgan's program (I didn't think I would) but his ratings went down pretty quick. Although obviously not part of this story I found it fascinating that Fox News dominated the ratings when it came to Egypt coverage. Although CNN has been stuck in third place in cable news they usually have a niche for global disaster/special alert coverage. Fox seems to be gaining ground while MSNBC and CNN struggle to find out what works.

[tb91006]

10:51 PM on 03/01/2011

They havent figured it out that liberal biased shows do not sell. My bet is CNN will figure it out before MSNBC.

[MiraMcB]

07:25 PM on 02/07/2011

Pox-dominated? How disturbing and embarrassing is that? It's only about 2 million people out of 300 million, but still... It just LOOKS so bad.

[tb91006]

10:54 PM on 03/01/2011

And less than 500,000 for Schultz and MSNBC must really look beyond bad.

[spartanladkenny]

01:29 PM on 02/07/2011

Fox rules the TV ratings competition. No wonder I see dumb people everywhere.

[tb91006]

10:55 PM on 03/01/2011

I agree lucky for us the numbers are not to high watching MSNBC or we would have alot more.

[Paul Richardson]

07:21 AM on 03/02/2011

AMEN!!!!

[kincaid0329]

10:16 PM on 02/05/2011

MOJO should not even be ranked. Please Joe is still the ultimate politician and Mika (and rest) are his muse. Cannot think without the politician and Buchanan the ultimate racist and MSNBC allows him on the show. WHERE'S KEITH? WE NEED KEITH...

[WeWantLiberty]

10:39 PM on 02/05/2011

kincaid, I think you are confused or brainwashed. Maybe you are the racist.

[nofriendofrepublicans]

01:46 PM on 02/06/2011

Anytime this post mentions cable news ratings it gets a flock of ditto heads foaming about how great their liars are. Yes we do need Keith.

[murphysgirl]

08:57 PM on 02/06/2011

Agreed!

[tb91006]

11:01 PM on 03/01/2011

You must be referring to Maddow's latest lie.

[youguyscrackmeup]

08:39 PM on 02/05/2011

I can say I tried to watch these shows, I really did. But after about a couple of minutes I had to stop or I would vomit. REALLY? America you buy this bs? I am not a fan of the other cable network cause personally I think they all suck but come on. Megan who says we never had any sort of Nazi rhetoric ever. Woman, you had it on your own show. Simply put, they are high school bullies who put on a good show and could give a screwwww about any 'real' news. All ego and no substance. News should be public funded to be unbiased. Not government, not private but public.

[katiek486]

08:27 PM on 02/08/2011

Wow. Hands down your post provides the best working definitions I have ever seen to help define "ignorance" and "hypocrisy". Maybe you are 10 years old so the idea of ignorance may be a little bit too much for you, although it has to be defined to serve as a base for your incredible hypocrisy. You claimed you "tried to watch these shows" and declared you "really did", but then pointed out your own lie by stating that after "a couple of minutes" you turned it off because you "would vomit" if you continued watching. You pose a question that asks "America you buy this bs?". By asking whether people "buy this bs", you show that you have a negative opinion of Fox News; an opinion which is rooted in your ignorance. Ignorance, by definition, is lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular. Since you never watched more than "a couple of minutes" of Fox News, you are ignorant and have no basis to form an opinion, unless you state clearly that you are just a mindless kool-aid drinker, which like many liberal sheep, let influential people like Michael Moore create your opinion (while he gets super rich by you paying to see his junk).

[youguyscrackmeup]

06:56 PM on 02/10/2011

wow. I have to say, I am shocked at how insulting you are to my comments and judge me without even knowing who I am. I can support someone calling me out and disagreeing but what have you have done is just to barrate and insult. ok, I will admit to listening to more than Fox news than a couple minutes but didn't think anyone would take me so literally on timing and to take the time to write an essay on it. I will stand by my comment however, I don't like cable news period. Note when I said I am not a fan of other cable networks, this means MSNBC and CNN. I was trying to say that to get unbiased news, it has to be public funded, not Government or private because then it is controlled by who has the most power, either through position or by the percent of stock owned. I feel you didn't really read my comment but just got mad because I said I don't like Fox. I have friends who love Fox but I don't hate them for it.

[katiek486]

08:38 PM on 02/08/2011

(cont)

While referring to Megan (Megyn Kelly I assume?) you fire back at her and exclaim "Woman, you had it on your own show". You then say Fox News is just bullies. Addressing a female as "woman" is not only sexist, but also could be seen as bullying. Hypocritical? Need more evidence? Ok. The last example illustrates how being ignorant is a bad habit because it can often lead one to unknowingly be a hypocrite. You state that "news should be public funded to be unbiased. Not government, not private, but public." Its a miracle! a publicly funded unbiased news source not run by the government or the private sector. Ignorance can be blissfully hypocritical, because if it is truly "publicly funded", where everyone is afforded equal access, and not run by the government, well, I'm stumped, because that is a major reason for government in the first place: to collect funds (taxes) from the public and provide services equally for all citizens (i.e. transportation infrastructure).

[mrmikes]

06:24 PM on 02/05/2011

"Beck tumbles", I like the sound of that.

[fredgladys]

03:18 PM on 02/06/2011

Beck is a clown and his own particular circus is starting to fold its tents to slink away.

[richard shirley]

03:51 PM on 02/05/2011

Regardless of ratings, Quality of shows, movies,music rarely equates to same in number of people watching, listening or buying tickets. Old saying, "never underestimate the intelligence of the people." For my money, Rachel Maddow is brilliant, she does her research, has her facts,gives credit when due(to Shepard Smith) has Republicans on her show and she is Nice to people.

Many shows on Fox to me are like the JERRY SPRINGER show, appeals to the lowest common denominator.

[jerzygurl]

04:34 PM on 02/05/2011

Many shows on Fox to me are like the JERRY SPRINGER show, appeals to the lowest common denominator. Kind of like ED & MATTHEWS of late.

[tb91006]

11:06 PM on 03/01/2011

Admitting you watch Springer show us you are the lowest common denomiator.

[Edward Standley]

06:02 PM on 02/05/2011

Of all the news commentary shows, Maddow is head and shoulders above the rest. If I have any criticism at all, it's her humorous snarkiness. I would miss it, as I think it's razor-sharp, but I think she would be a bit more credible without it. I think it could be argued that she's "too good for that". I'll still keep watching,though. Nobody "get's it" quite like Rachael.

[WeWantLiberty]

10:58 PM on 02/05/2011

Unfortunately Maddow misses facts or intentionally omits them. Anyone who does not get there information from sources other than MSNBC and the NY Times, is certainly mislead. Rachal Maddow is at most comical.

[somearelost]

12:49 PM on 02/05/2011

Round two of debunking Loony liberal myths........

LLM #16
"Fox's ratings are so amazingly high because Fox is on in every waiting room and nursing home"

Fail

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question433.htm

LLM #24

"Fox is offered on basic cable packages while MESSNBC is extra. Therefor fox has many times the potential viewers"

complete fail........

Coverage by HH from Neilson (Oct 2010):
CNN/HLN: 100.88 million HHs
FNC: 99.06 million HHs
MSNBC: 95.41 million HHs

(also look at LLM # 16)

So 4% less viewers is the reason why messnbc is getting crushed in the ratings??

LOL

[jerzygurl]

01:47 PM on 02/05/2011

The 1st few days of the month are always the most enjoyable to read all the Libs trying desperately to discredit the FOX ratings for the previous months. It provide many hours of entertainment reading what they post.

[PerfectTommy]

11:17 PM on 02/05/2011

Yes, Fox gets good ratings for "cable" news. The major "broadcast" networks still have many times more viewers. Discredit that.

[koyak23]

08:49 AM on 02/08/2011

The fact that Americans eat more Big Macs than Filet Mignon doesn't make the burger better than the steak.

[Edward Standley]

06:06 PM on 02/05/2011

Less intelligent people have fewer worthwhile pursuits. Less intelligent people have more time to waste on television. Just a guess, but a definite probability.

[somearelost]

10:48 AM on 02/06/2011

Wow....can you say "elitist"???

[DickClark]

07:48 AM on 02/07/2011

.....yup....and not "elitist" in any sense....