MSNBC Beats Fox News In Primetime For 2nd Night In Row, Maddow Again Number One In Cable

With the news cycle still humming over the Paul Manafort conviction and Michael Cohen guilty plea, MSNBC was once again the destination for cable news viewers in primetime as the network led cable news in primetime viewership for the second night in a row. Meanwhile, MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show enjoyed another huge night as it led all of cable in total viewership.

According to Nielsen, MSNBC averaged 2.759 million total viewers and 530,000 in the key 25-54 demographic during the 8 PM to 11 PM primetime hours. Fox News placed second in both metrics, pulling in 501,000 demo viewers and a total audience of 2.678 million. CNN nabbed 454,000 in the demo and 1.329 million viewers overall.

In total day, MSNBC led the way in total viewership with 1.467 million while placing second in the demo (282,000). CNN topped cable news in the demographic (291,000) while averaging 927,000 total viewers. Fox News drew 1.412 million viewers overall and 277,000 in the key demo.

Maddow followed up its big Tuesday performance by attracting 3.568 million total viewers to lead basic cable and 707,000 in the key demo to top cable news. Fox News’ Hannity finished second in both total viewers (3.136 million) and the demographic (575,000). MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell took third in the demo (495,000) and total audience (2.653 million).

While Fox News scored a huge interview with a Manafort juror during its 11 PM hour, MSNBC ended up easily leading the timeslot as The 11th Hour averaged 2.218 million viewers overall and 436,000 in the demo. Fox News @ Night drew 307,000 in the demographic and 1.447 million total viewers. The second hour of CNN Tonight captured 1.1714 million viewers overall and 406,000 in the key demo.

The top-rated program for CNN was Cuomo Prime Time, which drew 1.358 million total viewers and 491,000 in the demo. The CNN program ended up finishing fourth overall in the demographic.