These Are the Top-Rated Cable News Shows for October 2022

Fox News’ panel news-talk program The Five marked its seventh consecutive month as the most-watched cable news show, averaging 3.41 million total viewers in the 5 p.m. hour during October 2022. In addition to seven consecutive months, that’s now 10 out of the past 11 months that the program has averaged more viewers than any other cable news show. Objectively, it’s a notable achievement for a show that airs outside of primetime.

Tucker Carlson Tonight remains the second-most-watched show on cable news. In October, the 8 p.m. news-talk show averaged nearly 3.3 million viewers, up from September. Jesse Watters Primetime is the third-most-watched cable news show in September (2.91 million), followed by Hannity (2.74 million) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.45 million) rounding out the top five in average total viewers for October 2022.

Fox News Channel is home to the top 13 cable news shows in total viewers—and 14 of the top 20 for the month of October. In September, Fox had the top eight cable news shows in total viewers—and 14 of the top 20.

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell is MSNBC’s most-watched show for the second consecutive month, averaging 1.49 million total viewers after having averaged 1.735 million in September. MSNBC’s 9 p.m. hour, which primarily consists of Alex Wagner Tonight, averaged 1.425 million at 9 p.m.

The Lead with Jake Tapper (guest-hosted by John Berman in recent weeks) is CNN’s most-watched show in October, averaging 839,000 viewers at 4 p.m.

Here are the 10 most-watched cable news shows for Oct. 2022, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.

Fox News | 5 p.m. /The Five: 3,406,000 / 25 telecasts
Fox News | 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 2,398,000 / 24 telecasts
Fox News | 7 p.m./Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,911,000 / 25 telecasts
Fox News | 9 p.m./ Hannity: 2,741,000 / 25 telecasts
Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,495,000 / 25 telecasts
Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 2,231,000 / 24 telecasts
Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld! : 2,159,000 / 24 telecasts
Fox News | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered: 1,882,000 / 25 telecasts
Fox News | 11 a.m. / The Faulkner Focus: 1,781,000 / 26 telecasts
Fox News | 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m. / America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino: 1,769,000 / 50 telecasts

Below, the cable news show ranker that’s sorted by most to fewest average total viewers:

October ’22 Show Ranker (Total Viewers)

How about the top cable news shows among adults 25-54? After all, this is a demographic that advertisers of TV news still focus their ad dollars on.

Tucker Carlson Tonight remains No. 1 on cable news in A25-54, averaging 470,000 from the age range in October. The Five came in second (419,000) with Jesse Watters Primetime (364,000), Hannity (344,000) and Gutfeld! (337,000) rounding out the top five; the same order as September.

Fox News has the top 15 shows on cable news among adults 25-54 for the second consecutive month. Erin Burnett Outfront is the top non-Fox News cable news offering among adults 25-54, coming in at No. 16 with a 189,000 A25-54 average in October, up +2,000 viewers from September. The ReidOut is MSNBC’s top show among adults 25-54, as the network continues to have issues capturing viewers under 55 in primetime. The Joy Reid-led program came in at No. 20 on cable news with 147,000 A25-54 average.

Here are the top 10 cable news shows among adults 25-54 for Oct. ’22, as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen: