Q3 Cable Ratings: FNC Shows Fill Top 10; #3 Network on Cable; Beck Grows Timeslot 136%

By Chris Ariens on September 29, 2009 4:35 PM

If you’ve been following the cable news ratings, and we know you have, you’ll know Fox News has been dominating, even more than usual, in 2009. In the just-finished third quarter, Fox News beat CNN and MSNBC combined in Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo in both total day and primetime viewing. FNC is also the only cable news network to post across the board gains vs. Q3 ’08.

• In Total Viewers, FNC was up 2% in primetime and up 8% in total day.

• In A25-54 viewers, FNC was up 5% in primetime and up 12% in total day.

• FNC was the third-ranked cable network behind ESPN and USA.

• FNC had the top 10 programs in cable news. “The O’Reilly Factor” has been the #1 cable news show for 106 consecutive months. From 4pmET to 11pmET, all of FNC’s programs showed growth, most double digits:

Rank/Show — Total Viewer / A25-54 demo growth
2. “Hannity,” — 9% / 17%
3. “Glenn Beck,” — 89% / 136%
4. “On the Record,” — 16% / 21%
5. “Special Report” — 20% / 34%
6. “The FOX Report” — 9% / 18%
9. “Your World” — 16% / 27%

And for the month of September, FNC claimed the Top 13 programs in cable news in Total Viewers, which hasn’t happened since Nov. 2004. It was the network’s best month for the year in today day with Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers. Also, “America’s Newsroom” (9-11amET) with Megyn Kelly and Bill Hemmer had its highest rated month (and quarter) in A25-54 viewers.