In the continued news network ratings battle, MSNBC was the big winner last week as it was the only one of the three major cable news networks to show gains in the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic.
As reported by AdWeek, the March Madness basketball tournaments had a significant impact on cable news viewership, with MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News all seeing dips in total viewers during primetime. However, while CNN and Fox News also dipped in the primetime key demo, MSNBC posted surprising gains.
For the week of March 17, 2025, MSNBC’s primetime lineup averaged 1.144 million total viewers and 107,000 in the 25-54 demo, per Nielsen ratings. This is a decline of -2% in total viewers from the week prior but a rise of +8% in the key demo.
These numbers saw MSNBC drop from third to fifth in total primetime viewers but rise from 17th to tenth in the demo. As for the total day average, the network scored 609,000 total viewers (down -4%) and 59,000 in the demo (up +5%).
In comparison, CNN averaged 523,000 total primetime viewers and 99,000 in the key demo. This was down -8% in viewers from the week prior and -14% in the demo. However, the network did see a +1% gain in the total day demo (73,000).
Meanwhile, Fox News still led the charge, finishing ahead of the March Madness games airing on TNT, TruTV, and TBS. The network averaged 2.865 million total viewers and 345,000 in the key demo during primetime. However, this was down -4% in both metrics to the week prior.
As for the total day average, Fox News scored 1.788 million total viewers and 221,000 in the key demo. This marked a -2% dip in total viewers and -6% in the demo. The total viewer average was still enough for the network to finish first, though it fell to second place in the demo.
Fox News was also the big winner in terms of year-over-year ratings. According to AdWeek, Fox News was up by +50% in total viewers and +81% in the A25-54 demo in primetime compared to the same period a year ago, with total day gains of +47% in total viewers and +63% in the demo.
MSNBC was down -9% in total viewers and -8% in the demo for primetime compared to last year, with its total day numbers also down -25% in total viewers and -23% in the demo.
Meanwhile, in primetime, CNN lost -9% in total viewers and -1% in the demo compared to last year. During total day, it was down by -12% in total viewers and -4% in the demo.
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