For the month of February 2017, more people tuned in to MSNBC than CNN. MSNBC weekday prime (M-F 8-11pm) finished #2 in total viewers among all cable networks, beating CNN for the third straight month. MSNBC prime delivered higher growth than the competition, posting a gain of +64% among total viewers compared to February 2016 (vs. -29% for CNN and +30% for FOX News).
MSNBC also ranked #3 in total day (M-F 6am-2am) audience among all cable networks in total viewers. MSNBC's full day growth far outpaced the competition, delivering the third most growth in all of cable and posting a gain of +60% compared to February 2016 (vs. +16% for
CNN and +34% for
FOX News).
Year-to-date through February 2017,
MSNBC is the fastest-growing cable network among all cable in weekday prime, up +63% in total viewers over 2016 (vs. -6% for
CNN and +28% for
FOX News).
More viewers tuned in to "Morning Joe" (M-F 6-9am) than to CNN's "New Day" for February 2017 for the 24th consecutive month. "Morning Joe" also ranked #2 among all cable networks in the time period for total viewers. "Morning Joe" delivered 849,000 total viewers, the second highest ever for the show and for the network in the time period.
"The Rachel Maddow Show" (M-F 9-10pm) saw significant growth across the board and finished #2 in both total viewers and the key news adults 25-54 demographic. "The Rachel Maddow Show" delivered MSNBC's and the show's biggest total viewer audience ever in the time period. "The Rachel Maddow Show" also beat CNN's regularly scheduled programs for the 45th straight month. The show posted its best demo delivery in the time period since November 2012.
Since making a strategic shift to breaking news,
MSNBC dayside (M-F 9am-5pm) continues to perform strongly, growing faster than both
CNN and
Fox News in total viewers.
MSNBC is up +62% (vs. +51% for
CNN and +41% for
FOX News) compared to February 2016.
MSNBC dayside posted year-to-year gains of +51% among viewers A25-54.
Four more
MSNBC programs each beat
CNN among total viewers: "Hardball with Chris Matthews" at 7pm, "All In with Chris Hayes" at 8pm, "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" at 10pm, and "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" at 11pm.
NOTE: February 2017 ratings are based on Nielsen Live+Same data day for 1/30-2/26/17. Individual show data represents regular programming only, excluding election night, specials and breaking news.
