By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Cable television news has never been more in vogue and so competitive.
Several programs on MSNBC and CNN had their most-watched months ever in January, the Nielsen company said. CNN as a network did so, too, in a newsy month where the Capitol insurrection and President Joe Biden's inauguration left a lot to talk about.
For the weekday primetime schedule — the heart of the networks — MSNBC averaged 3.31 million viewers, CNN had 3.12 million and Fox News Channel had 2.89 million. Fox has been the top-rated cable news network for 19 years, and this represented the first month it finished third to its rivals since 1999, Nielsen said.
The total day average viewership was remarkably tight: 1.38 million for MSNBC up 11% from a year ago), 1.32 million for Fox (down 31%) and 1.28 million for CNN (up 48%).
Fox News returned to the top in primetime ratings last week, the first full week of the Biden administration, Nielsen said. The major trends are continuing, however: CNN is markedly up over last year, MSNBC is up by a smaller margin and Fox is declining.
For the week, CBS was the most-watched broadcast network, averaging 4.7 million viewers in primetime. ABC had 3.6 million, NBC had 3 million, Fox had 2.6 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.12 million and Ion Television had 1.11 million.
Fox News Channel led among the cable networks, averaging 2.56 million viewers. MSNBC had 2.23 million, CNN had 1.79 million, HGTV had 1.33 million and History had 1.03 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening news ratings race with an average of 9.9 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.3 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.2 million.
For the week of Jan. 25-31, the 20 most-watched programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. "NCIS," CBS, 10.03 million.
2. "60 Minutes," CBS, 9.36 million.
3. "FBI," CBS, 8.28 million.
4. "911," Fox, 7.22 million.
5. "Chicago Med," NBC, 7.2 million.
6. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 6.96 million.
7. "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, ABC, 6.61 million.
8. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 6.42 million.
9. "FBI: Most Wanted," CBS, 6.23 million.
10. "Chicago PD," NBC, 5.971 million.
11. "Bob Hearts Abishola," CBS, 5.967 million.
12. "911: Lone Star," Fox, 5.91 million.
13. "Bull," CBS, 5.39 million.
14. "The Bachelor," ABC, 5.27 million.
15. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 5.07 million.
16. "The Price is Right," CBS, 4.89 million.
17. "The Chase," ABC, 4.86 million.
18. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 4.67 million.
19. "To Tell the Truth," ABC, 4.484 million.
20. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 4.437 million.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTEยฎ,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
โSMPTEโs membership has spoken,โ said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann DโAmato. โThese officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!โ
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More