TNT – led by its National Basketball Association post-season coverage – dunked its cable network competition in finishing as the most watched network in primetime last week.
TNT averaged 2.9 million viewers to finish first among all cable networks during the week of April 17 to April 23, according to Nielsen. TNT was also the top choice among adults 18-49 in both primetime and on a 24-hour basis.
TNT’s primetime win knocked Fox News out of the top spot and into second place for the first time in the past three weeks, said Nielsen. Fox’s 2.2 million average viewers for the week came amid the dismissal of Bill O'Reilly from the network’s top rated series The O’Reilly Factor over sexual harassment allegations.
MSNBC and HGTV finished tied for third during the week with 1.4 million viewers, followed by TBS, ESPN and USA Network – all tied with 1.2 million viewers.
Discovery Channel (1.1 million viewers), History (1.0 million viewers) and Investigative Discovery (973,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week.
Fox News posted the highest average viewership on a 24-hour basis for the 16th straight week, followed by TNT, Nickelodeon, HGTV and Adult Swim, according to Nielsen.
Most Watched Shows For The Week Of April 17-23
DateShowNetwork Total Viewers
4/22 NBA Playoffs-Golden State/Portland ESPN 4.3 million
4/23 NBA Playoffs—Boston/Chicago TNT 4.2 million
4/23 NBA Playoffs—LA Clippers/Utah TNT 3.9 million
4/19 NBA Playoffs—Portland/Golden State TNT 3.9 million
4/19 NBA Playoffs—Okl City/Houston TNT 3.7 million
4/17 NBA Playoffs—Indiana/Cleveland TNT 3.5 million
4/20 NBA Playoffs—San Antonio/Memphis TNT 3.4 million
4/17 WWE Monday Night Raw USA 3.4 million
4/21 NBA Playoffs – Houston/OKL City ESPN 3.4 million
4/17 WWE Monday Night Raw USA 3.4 million
Source: Nielsen
