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Here were the top-rated cable news shows for the year 2024, via Nielsen Media Research:

  1. The Five, Fox News: 3.4 million viewers
  2. Jesse Watters Primetime, Fox News: 3.1 million
  3. Hannity, Fox News: 2.8 million
  4. Gutfeld, Fox News: 2.53 million
  5. The Ingraham Angle, Fox News: 2.51 million
  6. Special Report with Bret Baier, Fox News: 2.4 million
  7. Outnumbered, Fox News: 1.9 million
  8. The Faulkner Focus, Fox News: 1.8 million
  9. America’s Newsroom, Fox News: 1.74 million
  10. American Reports, Fox News: 1.7 million
  11. The Story, Fox News: 1.7 million
  12. Your World with Neil Cavuto, Fox News: 1.7 million
  13. Deadline: White House (5-6 pm), MSNBC: 1.53 million
  14. The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC: 1.5 million
  15. Deadline: White House (4-5 pm), MSNBC: 1.46 million
  16. The Beat With Ari Melber, MSNBC: 1.45 million
  17. Maddow/Wagner average (9 pm), MSNBC: 1.44 million
  18. Fox News at Night, Fox News: 1.41 million
  19. Hayes/Psaki average (8 pm), MSNBC: 1.39 million
  20. Reidout, MSNBC: 1.31 million

And for a few thoughts:

No CNN

Not a single show on CNN cracked the top 20. The channel’s highest-rated program, Anderson Cooper 360, averaged just 748,000 viewers, good for only 27th in cable news.

Further, how CNN covers the second Trump presidency is one of the most intriguing stories in the media for 2025. The network’s entire lineup is down around 50% since the November 5 election. And very few shows have much, if any, momentum.

CNN CEO Mark Thompson faces the challenge of not only covering Trump but installing a network-wide identity. For all of its ills, and there were many, viewers at least knew what CNN was under Jeff Zucker: an MSNBC lite.

Since Zucker’s abrupt departure in 2022, CNN has struggled to establish a brand, a reason for viewers to choose the network over other cable competitors. 

And based on 2024 viewership, most viewers could not find a reason to choose CNN.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 17: Host Jesse Watters as “Jesse Watters Primetime” Debuts On Fox News at Fox News Channel Studios on July 17, 2023 in New York City. “Jesse Watters Primetime” takes over Tucker Carlson’s former time slot on the Fox News Channel. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

Clean top 10 sweep for Fox News

Fox News was responsible for all 10 of the most-watched shows on cable news in 2024, accounting for 56% of the cable news audience in primetime and 53% in total day. 

Since the election, Fox News has accounted for 72% of all cable news viewership.

Jesse Watters was perhaps the biggest individual winner of the year, hosting the top two-rated shows of the year: The Five and Jesse Watters Primetime, which also happen to be the only two shows to average at least 3 million viewers for the year.

Plus, Watters claims to have saved the world. No, literally. That’s the name of his book, which he discussed at length with OutKick.

Harris Faulkner’s year is also worth highlighting. Both of her daily shows, Outnumbered and the Faulkner Focus, ranked among the top 10 in 2024, and she hosted the much-discussed all-women town hall with Donald Trump just weeks before the election.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 02: Rachel Maddow attends Variety & Rolling Stone Truth Seekers Summit at Second on August 02, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

MSNBC started off … fine, but ended in panic

While seven of the top 20 shows in 2024 belonged to MSNBC, the network enters 2025 in much rougher shape. 

Like CNN, MSNBC has also lost over half of its audience since Trump’s November victory over Kamala Harris. The channel has also set 30-year lows in that time span.

Specifically, since the election, MSNBC is down 65% in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic (51,000) and down 57% in total viewers (576,000) since the election.

And the future of the network is uncertain.

Parent company NBC Universal plans to spin off MSNBC and several of its cable networks, forming a new company separate from its flagship brands like NBC News and Peacock. Without NBC News, the spin-off company may not want to continue investing heavily in a cable news network that is clearly in decline. 

Already, MSNBC has negotiated pay cuts with Rachel Maddow and reportedly informed Joy Reid she would have to accept a pay reduction to stay employed by the network.

Finally, we cannot help but declare that MSNBC deserves the bleak state it faces. 

The network humiliated itself in 2024 – be it by downplaying the two attempted assassinations of Donald Trump’s life, incessantly promoting the “bloodbath” and “very fine people” hoaxes, and allowing dorks like Joy Reid to beg her viewers to abhor straight white Americans as much as she does.

MSNBC did this to itself.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 15: Host Sean Hannity as Conor McGregor visits “Hannity” at Fox News Channel Studios on March 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

Other notes

Primetime 2024 (01/01/24-12/29/24) vs. 2023 (12/26/22-12/31/23)

FNC: 2,384,000 P2+ (up 30%); 294,000 25-54 (up 40%)

CNN: 685,000 P2+ (up 18%); 147,000 25-54 (up 17%)

MSNBC: 1,223,000 P2+ (up 1%); 133,000 25-54 (up 9%)

Total Day:

FNC: 1,458,000 P2+ (up 21%); 186,000 25-54 (up 26%)

CNN: 481,000 P2+ (flat) 91,000 25-54 (down 3%)

MSNBC: 791,000 P2+ (up 2%); 84,000 25-54 (down 2%)

*OutKick and Fox News share common ownership.