As cable news starts to settle into the Trump administration, MSNBC is the only network to post year-over-year growth in primetime and total day. The channel delivered double-digit growth across the board. Rachel Maddow received a notable victory in the key news demographic over Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, though Fox News did manage to hold onto its overall advantages in both primetime and total day. Maddow had an average 678,000 adults 25-54, while Hannity only had 660,000. But Hannity had the advantage in total viewers. Fox News outperformed MSNBC with 3.27 million viewers to 3.03 million. Both networks greatly outperformed CNN. The Hollywood Reporter also notes that January 2017 was a particularly big month for cable news networks since everyone wanted to watch the official transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. Overall, cable news consumption in 2017 rose from 2016. However, it seems that the rise is starting to slow. MSNBC’s big percentage gains represent an invigorated audience, but they started with a smaller base, so significant percentage gains are more easily attained.
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