Ratings Blowout: Tucker Carlson’s 1 a.m. Rerun Beats All But Two CNN Programs

Virginia KrutaDecember 19, 2022

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s prime time show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” airs for a second time on weeknights at 1 a.m. ET — and his late-night rerun still draws a larger audience in the key demographic than all but two of the shows in CNN’s entire lineup.

According to Nielsen Media Research, Carlson’s 1 a.m. repeat draws a total audience of 751,000 — which puts him ahead of every live CNN offering save for three: “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” which draws a total audience of 798,000; “Erin Burnett Outfront,” which draws 800,000 total viewers; and “Anderson Cooper 360,” which has an audience of 802,000.

But in the key demographic — the 25-54 age range — Carlson does even better. His rerun racks up an audience of 154,000 in that age range, besting every CNN show but two. Cooper draws an audience of 181,000 in the key demo, while Burnett scores 183,000 viewers in the same age range.

For comparison, for the week ending on Friday, December 16th, Carlson’s prime time show averaged 288,000 viewers in the key demographic — compared to CNN’s Cooper at 117,000 and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes at 124,000 in the same time slot.

The only show on cable news to beat Carlson was another show on his own network. Fox News’ daily drive-time panel show “The Five” drew an audience of 332,000 in that age range over the same dates.

“The Five” was named the most-watched show in cable news, drawing an average total audience of 3.432 million people despite airing before the typical primetime hours at 5 p.m. ET. Carlson earned the top spot in the 25-54 age range, however, finishing the year with an average of 523,000 nightly viewers in that demographic.

Host Greg Gutfeld, who cohosts “The Five,” won big with his own late-night news and comedy show as well. He drew an average total audience of 2.045 million viewers — 345,000 viewers in the key demographic — and finished second for the year behind CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott released a statement responding to the news, saying, “From America’s choice on election night to the home of late night’s smash hit show, 2022 was a testament to our unmatched skill in delivering the most innovative news and opinion programming to our audience which continues to rank as the most politically diverse in cable news. I am beyond proud of our entire team’s incredible achievements this year.”