Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Rolls Past Fox News in Primetime

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Cable news net extends its total-day winning streak

Boston Celtics SF Jayson Tatum attempts to block the shot of Atlanta Hawks PG Trae Young in the second quarter. The Celtics beat the Hawks, 129-121, in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round Series.
The Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks battle in an April 23 NBA playoff game. (Image credit: Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The first round of the NBA playoffs served gave both TNT and ESPN a ratings boost last week, with both finishing among the top three most-watched basic-cable networks in primetime.

TNT averaged 2.7 million viewers in primetime during the week of April 17-23, topping all cable networks and ending Fox News Channel’s three-week run in the top spot, according to Nielsen. ESPN finished third for the week, averaging 1.5 million viewers.

Fox News fell to second place with 2 million viewers, with cable news competitor MSNBC finishing fourth with 1.1 million watchers. TBS was No. 5 with 806,000 viewers.

Rounding out the top 10 most-watched networks in primetime were HGTV (788,000 viewers), History (780,000), INSP (725,000), Hallmark Channel (682,000) and USA Network (663,000).

Fox News extended its total day winning streak to 15 straight weeks with an average of 1.2 million viewers, followed by TNT (932,000 viewers), MSNBC (735,000), ESPN (595,000) and HGTV (447,000), 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.