MSNBC Wins A25-54 in Weekday Prime in July

MSNBC was back on top in weekday prime (M-F 8-11pm) for the month of July, beating Fox News and CNN among A25-54 and A18-49 according to Nielsen. This is the 2nd time the network has topped both Fox News and CNN in A25-54 for the month (after May 2017) and the 3rd straight month in A18-49. MSNBC was in the Top 10 in A25-54 among all cable networks for the month, ranking #6 (vs. FOX News' #7 and CNN's #17). In total viewers, MSNBC finished at #2 among all cable networks in weekday prime (ahead of HGTV, History and TBS, just behind FOX News). MSNBC averaged 478,000 A25-54 viewers (vs. FOX News' 461,000 and CNN's 316,000); 328,000 A18-49 viewers (vs. FOX News' 288,000 and CNN's 247,000); and 2.13 million viewers (vs. CNN's 961,000). MSNBC is the only news network to post growth over July 2016 in the key demographics: +10% in A25-54 (vs. FOX News' -31% and CNN's -54%), +2% in A18-49 (vs. FOX News' -40% and CNN's -57%) and +26% in total viewers (vs. FOX News' -29% and CNN's -54%).

MSNBC dayside (M-F 9am-5pm) beat CNN among total viewers for the 1st time since October 2012 and led CNN for every hour between 9am and 5pm. Averaging 886,000 total viewers for the month, dayside delivered its 2nd best month ever after June 2017. Dayside posted double-digit growth in A25-54, A18-49 and total viewers, while Fox News and CNN were down in A25-54 and in total viewers from July 2016. MSNBC was up +22% in A25-54 (vs. FOX News' -1% and CNN's -10%), +26% in A18-49 (vs. FOX News' +4% and CNN's -13%) and +31% in total viewers (vs. FOX News' -13% and CNN's -15%).

"The Rachel Maddow Show" finished the month as the #1 show in the entire cable news schedule for three key demos: A25-54, A18-49 and total viewers. For the 9pm time period, "Maddow" was #1 for the 5th consecutive month in A18-49 and A25-54, and the 3rd straight month in total viewers.

"Morning Joe" at 6am continued to lead third-ranked CNN in both A25-54 and A18-49 (both for the 2nd straight month) and in total viewers for the 29th consecutive month. The program has now averaged over 1 million viewers for 3 straight months since May 2017.

For the 3rd consecutive month, "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" topped both Fox News and CNN in A18-49 and total viewers. "The 11th Hour" also beat CNN in A25-54 for the 3rd straight month.

"The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" finished July as the #1 show at 10pm in A18-49, topping Fox News and CNN in the time period for the 3rd month in a row. "The Last Word" also beat CNN in A25-54 for the 3rd consecutive month and in total viewers for the 26th straight month.

Two other MSNBC programs outperformed CNN in A25-54: "Hardball with Chris Matthews" at 7pm and "All In with Chris Hayes" at 8pm for the 2nd straight month.

Additionally, more people turned to MSNBC than CNN for every single hour between 6am and 2am on weekdays. The following MSNBC programs also scored higher audiences than CNN: "MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle" at 9am for the 6th straight month, "MSNBC Live with Hallie Jackson" at 10am, "MSNBC Live with Velshi and Ruhle" at 11am, "Andrea Mitchell Reports" at 12pm, "MSNBC Live with Craig Melvin" at 1pm, "MSNBC Live with Katy Tur" at 2pm, "MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi" at 3pm, "Deadline: White House" at 4pm, "MTP Daily" at 5pm, "MSNBC Live"/"The Beat with Ari Melber" at 6pm, "Hardball with Chris Matthews" at 7pm for the 12th straight month, and "All In with Chris Hayes" at 8pm for the 8th straight month.

Image courtesy of NBC.