Fox News Finishes Cable's Summer Weekly Ratings Race With Win

Fox News finished summer's last week at the top of cable's weekly ratings charts, according to Nielsen. 

The news network averaged 2.1 million viewers during the week of Aug. 22 to Aug. 28 in finishing first among all cable networks, according to Nielsen. Fox News finished first for all but two weeks during the 13-week summer Tv ratings period.

HGTV pulled into second for the week with 1.6 million viewers, followed by USA Network’s 1.5 million watchers and TNT’s 1.4 million viewers.

TBS and History finished in a tie with 1.3 million viewers, followed by Disney and MSNBC (tied with 1.2 million viewers), ESPN (1.1 million) and Investigation Discovery (984,000).

Fox News also topped all cable networks on a total day basis, besting Nickelodeon, Adult Swim, Disney Channel and HGTV.

USA was the top choice among adults 18-49, besting TBS and MTV, according to Nielsen.

Most Watched Cable Shows For The Week Of Aug. 22 to Aug. 28

Date    Show                                                               Network                     Total Viewers

8/22   Major Crimes                                                  TNT                             3.9 million

8/28   Fear The Walking Dead                                  AMC                            3.6 million

8/22   The O’Reilly Factor                                        Fox News                    3.4 million

8/22   WWE Monday Night Raw                             USA                             3.4 million

8/28   NASCAR Sprint Cup Race                           NBCSN                        3.4 million

8/22   WWE Monday Night Raw                             USA                             3.3 million

8/28   2016 MTV Video Music Awards                   MTV                            3.2 million

8/23   The O’Reilly Factor                                      MTV                            3.2 million

8/22 WWE Entertainment                                      USA                             3.1 million

8/23   The Haves and The Have Nots                   OWN                           2.9 million

Source: Nielsen

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.