Cable News Ratings October 2012: Debates And Hurricane Sandy Give Networks Ratings Jump

The Ratings Are In!

Cable news networks experienced a ratings spike during the month of October.

Viewers had multiple reasons to tune into cable news this month, with the 2012 election, 4 presidential debates, and Hurricane Sandy all making headlines.

Fox News and MSNBC's primetime shows experienced a noticeable ratings bump, as each presidential debate aired at 9:00 p.m. EST. Programs like Greta Van Susteren's "On The Record," which usually places within the top ten most watched shows, was the third most watched program in October. This jump was likely due to its 10:00 p.m. time slot, which coincided with the debates and post-debate analyses.

MSNBC's primetime programming experienced a bump as well, with "Hardball," "The Last Word," "The Ed Show," and "PoliticsNation" each bringing in more than one million viewers, and beating Fox News daytime programs they typically fall behind.

"Piers Morgan Tonight" performed best out of the CNN programs, followed by the 8:00 p.m. airing of "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Situation Room." While fewer CNN programs were in the top 30 most watched cable news programs, the network won the coveted A25-54 demographic during its coverage of Hurricane Sandy.

Click through the slidshow below to see the top 30 cable news programs of October 2012.

2. Hannity

October 2012 Cable News Ratings

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot