Weekly Cable Ratings: ESPN, NFL Network Deliver in Primetime

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Fox News stays hot on total-day chart

ESPN logo in hallway in ESPN's main campus
(Image credit: Melissa Rawlins / ESPN Images)

ESPN and NFL Network finished on top of last week's primetime charts on the strength of its NFL football coverage.

ESPN averaged 2.1 million viewers to top the primetime chart for the week of December 18-December 24, followed by NFL Network with 1.67 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News.

After three straight winning weeks in primetime, Fox News fell to third place with 1.4 million viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel and MSNBC with 1 million viewers each.

Hallmark Movies and Mysteries was sixth with 778,000 viewers, with TBS (766,000), History (701,000), HGTV (621,000) and AMC (619,000) rounding out the top 10 most watched networks for the week.

Fox News retained the top spot on a total day basis for the fourth week in a row with an average of 1 million viewers. ESPN finished in second place with 760,000 viewers, followed by MSNBC (717,000), Hallmark Channel (660,000) and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (421,000), according to 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.