MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Beats Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity On Eve Of Trump’s Arrest

On the eve of Donald Trump’s historic arrest and arraignment, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow scored a rare victory over Fox News Channel, with The Rachel Maddow Show winning the 9 p.m. ET hour over FNC’s Hannity. Maddow drew a total audience of 2.515 million viewers, just
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ahead of Hannity’s 2.496 million viewers. On CNN, Erin Burnett anchored the 9 p.m. hour and drew a total audience of 742,000 viewers. In the key demographic of viewers 25-54, Maddow finished first with 298,000 viewers, followed by Hannity (249,000 viewers) and Burnett (208,000 viewers).

The highest-rated show in cable news on the night was Tucker Carlson Tonight, which drew a total audience of 3.246 million viewers, well ahead of MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes (1.656 million viewers) and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 (949,000 viewers). In the key demo, Tucker Carlson Tonight finished first with 435,000 viewers, followed by Anderson Cooper 360 (232,000 viewers) and All In with Chris Hayes (181,000 viewers).

Overall, Fox News dominated prime time with an average audience between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET of 2.564 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (2.024 million viewers) and CNN (745,000 viewers). It’s notable that CNN did not break the one million viewer mark on a night when cable news was dominated by a major story, which traditionally has given a lift to CNN’s ratings. In the key demo, Fox News was first in prime with 309,000 viewers, followed by MSNBC (219,000 viewers) and CNN (194,000 viewers).

For daytime ratings (6 a.m. through 2 a.m. ET)—on a day when much of cable news was focused on Trump’s travels from West Palm Beach to New York City—generated much criticism for its at times breathless coverage of what was, essentially, a man taking a flight up the East Coast—Fox News led with 1.761 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.265 million viewers) and CNN (690,000 viewers).