ESPN and TNT’s coverage of the NHL and NBA playoffs wasn’t enough to knock Fox News Channel from the top of the primetime and total-day basic-cable ratings last week.
Fox News averaged 1.9 million viewers in primetime for the week of April 15-21 for its second straight win in the category, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by the news network.
ESPN and TNT, which aired the NBA’s play-in tournament and first-round playoff games as well as first-round Stanley Cup playoff games, finished second and third for the week with 1.5 million and 1.4 million viewers, respectively. MSNBC moved into fourth place with 1.3 million viewers, followed by HGTV’s 790,000 viewers and Hallmark Channel’s 729,000 watchers. History was seventh for the week with 635,000, followed by CNN (596,000 viewers), TBS (572,000) and INSP (554,000).
Fox News was the most-watched cable network on a total-day basis for the 15th consecutive week with 1.2 million viewers. MSNBC was second with 932,000 viewers, followed by ESPN (675,000), CNN (522,000) and TNT (491,000), per Nielsen.
