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

Fox News' Bret Baier and Shepard Smith have firmly settled into the top 5 of the cable news ratings. February's number show that Baier has had the second-highest rated show for three months, and Smith surged to third place in the all-important A25-54 demo.

CNN's ratings also spiked in February--and the biggest surge came from Anderson Cooper, who added nearly 300,000 viewers to his January numbers. All of CNN's ratings were boosted by the tumult in the Middle East, but Cooper reigned supreme.

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

1 of 30

1. The O'Reilly Factor

1 of 31

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Fox News -- 3.194 million total viewers

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'?

gadgets/slideshows/201337/slide_201337_547645_small.jpg

Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters And G-Spots: A Moment We Will Never Forget (VIDEO) (MA) (NSFW)

Dick Clark, Dick Cheney Mixed Up In Erroneous Tweet

Mitt Romney: 'Vast Left Wing Conspiracy' Against Me In The Media

Fox News -- 3.194 million total viewers

comments(2471)

Total comments: 2471 | Post a Comment

1 of 31

This Program

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Change the Channel Tune In!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Programs

loading...

Top 5 Programs

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[dukefrommo]

12:57 PM on 03/27/2011

Hannity is nothing but a liar. He has a little over 2,000 viewer. Not that many when you consider over 300 million people in this country.

[Chris1962]

11:16 AM on 03/26/2011

Wow, I had no idea Morning Joe was so far down at the bottom of the heap.

[dtay]

02:32 PM on 04/21/2011

Me either. Yet, time has Joe as one of the top 10 media people. Why, his ratings are so low. You should see that story on Huff Po.

[Lleah]

10:55 PM on 03/16/2011

Tonight Sean Hannity was the rudest I have ever seen any host ever be when Anthony Weiner appeared on his show. Along with Michelle Bachman.....he yelled....insulted.....laughed at and repeatedly interupted Weiner. Then he called him a "partisan hack". WHY do Democrats bother to go on this show? I would like to see a total boycott of Hannity by all Democrats. This is ridiculous.

[jazzylyn]

11:11 AM on 03/14/2011

Faux need towers because unfortunate
Ately the areore dumbos out there that their slice the teabsgs, refilled,

[Chris Morrison]

08:55 AM on 03/13/2011

Wow, Fox got an actual news reporter in there this month. Nice job, Shep!

[James Rooks]

05:35 PM on 03/07/2011

this just proves that Fox News is the elephant in the room that the lefties are afraid of

[Jean Chilvers]

04:49 PM on 04/28/2011

Not afraid, just tired of the lies and bad reporting they continue to produce. If they presented an intelligent Republican view I'd watch them in order to understand the full picture. Unfortunately they cannot be trusted with the facts.

[jgallery]

10:13 PM on 03/04/2011

Once again according to the lefties - only half-wits and the mindless watch Faux while the few, the intelligent, the noble, the truthful,the elite who only wish to help the ignorant masses watch MSNBC.

[hbhawaii]

12:08 PM on 03/05/2011

Sounds about right. Thanks for articulating it so well.

[Chris Morrison]

08:58 AM on 03/13/2011

Well, to be frank, MSNBC's opinion shows seem to do a hell of a lot more fact-checking than Fox's opinion shows. On the other hand, their standard news broadcasts are pretty good (Shepard Smith is about as objective as I've seen).

[teabrains]

08:09 PM on 03/04/2011

Fox news is for those without a critical thinking synapse in the brain. Just feed me with lies and bs and I will watch.

[INDIVIDUALTERRY]

04:18 PM on 03/04/2011

18 of the top twenty are FOX ? Bwhahahaha I'm going to have to start watching.

[jimmygeewhiz]

10:26 AM on 03/04/2011

This is what Secretary Clinton was alluding to when she compared our MSM news to Al Jazeera's. Look at what's considered the top (ahem) news slots. The channel of half truths and doctored tapes leads the way pulled by the sheeple of the uninformed.

[jgallery]

10:15 PM on 03/04/2011

msm = bias, al j = bias, fox = bias - what's new?
people then pick the bia they agree with the most - not a new tend.

[daisy111]

12:16 PM on 03/07/2011

It is always amazing to hear criticisms of Fox because it makes you wonder where are these people finding better news. The others are state-run so I will continue to watch Fox where you at least hear spirited debate on every topic.

[veteran1964]

09:55 AM on 03/04/2011

This is the reason Faux News is on top of the list. If you go to McDonalds, or other food establishments, or bars, or other places that have televisions on the walls, you will see that all of them have Faux News on. In the waiting rooms of hospitals is Faux News on the TV. I have visited many places all over my state and there is never another news organization on their TV's. So, they surveys take this into consideration and use it for viewer statistics.

[somearelost]

11:20 AM on 03/04/2011

You have no idea how Nielsen gathers it data. The mere fact that you're spewing such blatant falsehoods and urban myths just proves that you are of low inTell_igence. Please understand that you now have 0 credibility and have been exposed as nothing more than a whining liberal parrot. Enjoy

http://telewatcher.com/telewatching/how-the-nielsen-ratings-are-gathered/

[BlueRoseofTexas]

01:42 PM on 03/04/2011

Sorry, but a blog by a mommy who was a Nielsen family doesn't tell the whole story either. Actually, Nielsen does still use the diary system mentioned in the link you provided, but many markets now have People Meters which electronically gather the info after the person viewing has punched a button or two. The fact that FOX is shown restaurants and other public places most likely does positively affect their ratings as (1 people who are filling out diaries will report that they watched somewhere other than home and (2 Its prevalence probably influences a lot of people to watch when they get home as it is submlinially influencing them (pretty brilliant marketing which is what they are good at--and telling lots of fibs.)

[daisy111]

12:17 PM on 03/07/2011

My McDonalds has CNN.

[Levitty]

09:25 AM on 03/04/2011

The motto of MSNBC is
How low can we go??/

[jimmygeewhiz]

10:28 AM on 03/04/2011

It's just as well you continue watching your Fox Newts programming, because your thought process is just as mottled.

[rsaillant1]

07:27 AM on 03/04/2011

Aren't we getting weary of these polls that rate viewership,
hence popularity, by counting heads?

Would it not be interesting to design a poll that counts what's inside those heads?

[Chris Morrison]

09:00 AM on 03/13/2011

Not in a country where intelligence and education aren't considered worth funding adequately.

[georgieboyme]

12:44 AM on 03/04/2011

It's like rating the taste of apple with that of oranges. Fox news is an entertaining talk show, whereas Rachel and Anderson provide serious news. Entertainment shows will always get more viewers than the news.

[habenae23]

10:26 PM on 03/03/2011

Why is unamerican propaganda always #'s 1-10 in TV ratings?