Weekly Cable Ratings: ESPN Holds Off Fox News in Primetime

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Fox News regains total day crown

Damar Hamlin #3 of the Buffalo Bills tackles Tee Higgins #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter of an NFL football game at Paycor Stadium on January 2, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Image credit: Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

ESPN barely fought off Fox News for top honors in primetime as the pro and college football season comes to a close.

ESPN averaged 2.7 million viewers in primetime during the week of January 2 to January 8, topping Fox News’ 2 million viewers, according to Nielsen. ESPN was led by the 9.1 million viewers that tuned into its January 2 Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals Monday Night Football telecast, a game that ended in the first quarter after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field. 

MSNBC finished third with 1.3 million viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel with 982,000 and CNN at 918,000 watchers. 

HGTV finished sixth with 826,000 viewers, followed by History (763,000 viewers), TBS (727,000), TLC (677,000) and INSP (676,000).

Fox News regained the top spot in total day -- a week after having its 51-week winning streak broken by ESPN -- with an average of 1.4 million viewers. ESPN (1.1 million viewers), MSNBC (950,000), CNN (740,000) and Hallmark Channel (505,000) followed close behind, reported Nielsen. ■

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.