Fox News had another dominant month, claiming the top 11 program spots in cable news and placing 2nd in all of cable in primetime, behind only USA.
"The O'Reilly Factor" was the #1 cable news show in April, averaging 3.498 million total viewers. "Hannity" (2.566 million), "Glenn Beck" (2.230 million), "On the Record with Greta van Susteren" (2.173 million) and "Special Report with Bret Baier" (1.631 million) rounded out the top five. The full top 20 appears below.
Fox News also placed #2 among all cable networks in primetime, averaging 2.350 total viewers. USA took the top spot with 3.044 million total viewers, just 694,000 ahead of Fox News. Fox News is currently selling advertisers on the idea that it is gunning for USA's cable crown.
CNN placed 23rd with an average of 917,000 total viewers; MSNBC came in 25th with an average of 826,000 total viewers.
Interesting Note: While end-of-month ratings typically mean press releases galore, Fox News has not issued a release on their April ratings win (unlike the other three networks, who each spun various victories or growth figures). A network insider told me, "We didn't want to take away from the battle for fourth that's raging between CNN, MSNBC and Headline News [HLN]."
Top 20 Cable News Programs by total viewers, April 2009
1. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News): 3,498,000 total viewers
2. "Hannity" (Fox News): 2,566,000 total viewers
3. "Glenn Beck" (Fox News): 2,230,000 total viewers
4. "On the Record with Greta van Susteren" (Fox News): 2,173,000 total viewers
5. "Special Report with Bret Baier" (Fox News): 2,047,000 total viewers
6. "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith" (Fox News): 1,915,000 total viewers
7. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News, repeat): 1,723,000 total viewers
8. "Your World with Neil Cavuto" (Fox News): 1,520,000 total viewers
9. "America's Newsroom" (Fox News): 1,505,000 total viewers
10. "Studio B with Shepard Smith" (Fox News): 1,314,000 total viewers
11. "Happening Now" (Fox News): 1,247,000 total viewers
12. "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" (MSNBC): 1,237,000 total viewers
13. "The Live Desk" (Fox News): 1,210,000 total viewers
14. "Larry King Live" (CNN): 1,093,000 total viewers
15. "Anderson Cooper 360" (CNN): 1,058,000 total viewers
16. "The Rachel Maddow Show" (MSNBC): 1,042,000 total viewers
17. "Situation Room" (CNN): 898,000 total viewers
18. "Lou Dobbs Tonight" (CNN): 826,000 total viewers
19. "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" (CNN): 786,000 total viewers
20. "CNN Newsroom" (CNN): 725,000 total viewers