Fox News Sweeps Tuesday Cable Ratings; 11 P.M. Demo Decided by 6,000 Viewers

Fox News won both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demographic across primetime and total day on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to Nielsen Media Research's Big Data + Panel figures. The night's closest contest came at 11 p.m. ET, where just 6,000 demo viewers separated first place from third.

MS NOW's The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi took the 11 p.m. ET time period in the key Adults 25-54 demographic. The margin was razor thin. Nielsen's Big Data + Panel data showed the spread between the top-rated and third-rated 11 p.m. shows at only 6,000 viewers in the demo advertisers pay for.

How large was Fox News's overall lead?

In primetime, Fox News drew 1.958 million total viewers, per Nielsen (BD+P). MS NOW followed at 1.098 million. CNN ran third at 607,000. That puts Fox News's primetime audience at roughly 1.8 times MS NOW's and more than three times CNN's on the night.

Total-day results told the same story. Fox News averaged 1.209 million total viewers. MS NOW delivered 699,000. CNN posted 431,000 — meaning Fox News outdrew the two competitors combined by a comfortable margin before primetime even began.

What happened in the ad-selling demo?

Among Adults 25-54, the demographic that drives cable news economics, Fox News again led both dayparts. In primetime, FNC averaged 176,000 demo viewers, ahead of CNN's 123,000 and MS NOW's 117,000. CNN edged MS NOW in primetime demo delivery by 6,000 viewers — the same gap that decided the 11 p.m. race, running in the networks' favor this time.

Across total day in the demo, Fox News averaged 108,000 viewers aged 25-54. MS NOW posted 72,000, with CNN close behind at 70,000 — a 2,000-viewer spread between second and third. Fox News's total-day demo lead over MS NOW works out to 50 percent more viewers in the category.

What does the 11 p.m. photo finish signal?

The near-tie at 11 p.m. ET shows late-night demo competition remains fluid even as Fox News locks up the broader audience rankings. MS NOW's win with The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi demonstrates the network can compete in the demo at the hour, even while trailing FNC decisively in total-day and primetime audiences.

All figures come from Nielsen Media Research's Big Data + Panel measurement, reported in thousands of viewers, with all times Eastern. For media buyers, the takeaway is straightforward: Fox News owned the night's scale, but the 25-54 battle at 11 p.m. — decided by fewer viewers than fit in a small arena — is where the competitive action lives.