Back on July 16, MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” earned its largest audience ever (at 5.23 million viewers), thanks to Maddow’s one-hour interview with Mary Trump, the President’s niece. Almost two months later, Maddow hit another ratings home run by chatting with another figure associated to Trump who’s peddling a new book: the convicted former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, promoting his memoir “Disloyal”. The interview drew 5 million viewers in its initial airing on Sep. 8; not only was it the most-watched cable news telecast of the week, it was the second most-watched edition of the program in its history. Coincidentally, Cohen’s appearance marked the 12th anniversary (to the date) of Maddow’s weeknight show.
For the week ending Sep. 13, 2020 in total day data (from 6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. each day), Fox News Channel led the cable news networks in viewers (1.77 million) and adults 25-54 (300,000). Like last week, MSNBC was the total-viewer cable news runner-up (averaged 1.21 million viewers); CNN, the adults 25-54 demo cable news runner-up (202,000).
Updating on the newscast we profiled last week — WGN America’s “News Nation”, it averaged 78,000 viewers and 17,000 adults 25-54 for Sep. 7-13 in prime time (8-11 p.m.) which was relatively steady from its premiere week.
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top CNN program with associated rank) in total viewers:
1. Rachel Maddow Show “Michael Cohen Interview”(MSNBC, Tue. 9/8/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.997 million viewers
2. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 9/9/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.798 million viewers
3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 9/9/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.445 million viewers
4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 9/10/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.402 million viewers
5. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 9/8/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.394 million viewers
6. Hannity (FOXNC, Thu. 9/10/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.282 million viewers
7. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 9/8/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.228 million viewers
8. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 9/11/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.065 million viewers
9. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Wed. 9/9/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.951 million viewers
10. Hannity Special (FOXNC, Fri. 9/11/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.849 million viewers
66. Cuomo Prime Time (CNN, Wed. 9/9/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.041 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs (and the top CNN program with associated rank) among adults 25-54:
1. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 9/9/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.874 million adults 25-54
2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 9/9/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.858 million adults 25-54
3. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Tue. 9/8/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.812 million adults 25-54
4. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 9/8/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.811 million adults 25-54
5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 9/8/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.805 million adults 25-54
6. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 9/10/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.772 million adults 25-54
7. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Tue. 9/8/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.705 million adults 25-54
8. The Ingraham Angle (FOXNC, Wed. 9/9/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.693 million adults 25-54
9. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 9/11/2020 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.677 million adults 25-54
10. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Wed. 9/9/2020 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.670 million adults 25-54
20. CNN Tonight (CNN, Wed. 9/9/2020 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.511 million adults 25-54
