MSNBC was the most-watched network in primetime for the first time this year as its coverage of the Democratic National Convention ended Fox News Channel’s 11-week winning streak.
MSNBC averaged 3.3 million viewers for the week of August 19-25, topping CNN, which averaged 2.2 million viewers and Fox News, which garnered 2.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News.
All three cable news networks benefited from viewership of the four-day Democratic National Convention. MSNBC posted the biggest primetime audience for the Convention, averaging 6.5 million viewers for its August 22 coverage of Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance of the party’s nomination.
Sports networks ESPN (728,000 viewers), and NFL Network (725,000) finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively. HGTV was sixth with 639,000 viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel (594,000 viewers), INSP (550,000), TBS (508,000) and Discovery Channel (494,000).
On a 24-hour basis, Fox News extended its winning streak to 33 weeks with an average of 1.45 million viewers, barely beating out MSNBC’s 1.44 million viewers. CNN (916,000 viewers), ESPN (556,000) and Hallmark Channel (349,000) rounded out the top five most-watched networks in total day, according to Nielsen.
