Friday was an interesting day in Cable News (and Cable News Twitter). Superficially, it looked like a fairly typical day: the Kelly File won best hour and Hannity best day. But there were some permutations to MSNBC’s schedule that affected the runners-up.
After Kelly for best hour came each of the two hours of Morning Joe at Night, a superbowl special shot in Phoenix. There was a lot of grumbling on Twitter about its replacing Hayes and Maddow. In fact, Maddow got more mentions during her normal 9pm slot (1465) than Morning Joe did (1427). Chris Hayes got almost as many mentions (1651) in his 8pm slot as Morning Joe did (1705). It will be interesting to see how the ratings shake out when they surface; I suspect that the deployment to Phoenix did not boost MSNBC’s viewership. Honestly, it seemed more like an excuse for some MSNBC personalities to take a road trip…
Here’s the top 30 shows on Cable News Twitter, as measured by best hour:
click to enlarge
Raw data for day: 2015-01-30-ShowStats.csv
Note that all times are US Eastern Time. See notes at end for further explanations. For earlier articles on cable news twitter ratings, please see this.
Cable News Twitter Ratings for 2015-01-30
Top Shows for the day:
| Category | Mentions | Show |
| Most Mentions During Hour | 3961 | Fox News: The Kelly File |
| Most Mentions During Day | 9215 | Fox News: Hannity |
Ratings for individual time slots
Ratings for 12 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | America Tonight | 4 | 44 | 4 | 36 | 153,915 | 58% | 42% |
| CNN | Inside Man | 79 | 397 | 51 | 278 | 5,153,622 | 55% | 45% |
| Fox News | The Kelly File | 393 | 7,009 | 238 | 3,588 | 109,343,966 | 62% | 38% |
| MSNBC | The Rachel Maddow Show | 202 | 5,260 | 129 | 1,807 | 15,714,562 | 40% | 60% |
Ratings for 1 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | Consider This | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 508 | 100% | 0% |
| CNN | CNN International | 167 | 2,871 | 135 | 2,288 | 129,859,266 | 58% | 42% |
| Comedy Central | The Daily Show | 48 | 1,943 | 44 | 1,667 | 9,311,062 | 62% | 38% |
| Comedy Central | The Nightly Show | 98 | 1,439 | 55 | 1,062 | 11,951,736 | 63% | 37% |
| Fox News | Hannity | 535 | 9,215 | 346 | 5,383 | 52,274,266 | 58% | 42% |
| MSNBC | The Last Word w/Lawrence O’Donnell | 21 | 854 | 16 | 544 | 4,406,791 | 61% | 39% |
Ratings for 2 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | Real Money with Ali Velshi | 2 | 62 | 2 | 49 | 1,396,615 | 75% | 25% |
| CNN | CNN International | 128 | 2,871 | 123 | 2,288 | 129,859,266 | 58% | 42% |
| Fox News | On The Record w/Greta Van Susteren | 48 | 4,902 | 36 | 3,151 | 25,221,615 | 55% | 45% |
| HLN | Nancy Grace | 64 | 6,104 | 48 | 5,796 | 7,198,309 | 70% | 30% |
| MSNBC | Hardball w/Chris Matthews | 16 | 977 | 8 | 668 | 6,469,833 | 59% | 41% |
Ratings for 3 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 26 | 1,466 | 17 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| Al Jazeera | Inside Story | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 501 | 0% | 100% |
| CNN | CNN International | 294 | 2,871 | 267 | 2,288 | 129,859,266 | 58% | 42% |
| Fox News | RedEye | 735 | 3,211 | 154 | 1,746 | 14,127,901 | 64% | 36% |
| MSNBC | All In w/Chris Hayes | 29 | 4,485 | 21 | 1,296 | 22,065,630 | 41% | 59% |
Ratings for 4 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | America Tonight | 0 | 44 | 0 | 36 | 153,915 | 58% | 42% |
| CNN | Early Start | 19 | 275 | 15 | 169 | 16,665,897 | 52% | 48% |
| Fox News | The Five | 7 | 1,525 | 6 | 1,023 | 9,545,882 | 66% | 34% |
| MSNBC | The Rachel Maddow Show | 19 | 5,260 | 14 | 1,807 | 15,714,562 | 40% | 60% |
Ratings for 5 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 11 | 1,466 | 10 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | Early Start | 12 | 275 | 10 | 169 | 16,665,897 | 52% | 48% |
| Fox News | FoxFriendsFirst | 55 | 237 | 38 | 189 | 2,153,869 | 81% | 19% |
| MSNBC | First Look | 7 | 36 | 4 | 33 | 3,471,967 | 83% | 17% |
| MSNBC | Way Too Early (5:30-6) | 18 | 197 | 12 | 147 | 590,425 | 63% | 37% |
Ratings for 6 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 21 | 1,466 | 17 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| Al Jazeera | Inside Story | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 501 | 0% | 100% |
| CNN | New Day | 177 | 1,922 | 144 | 1,262 | 108,337,372 | 56% | 44% |
| Fox News | Fox And Friends | 172 | 2,947 | 131 | 1,967 | 41,837,432 | 61% | 39% |
| HLN | Morning Express w/Robin Meade | 49 | 357 | 39 | 268 | 1,463,002 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | Morning Joe | 660 | 7,048 | 270 | 2,570 | 27,261,147 | 45% | 55% |
Ratings for 7 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | TechKnow | 2 | 39 | 2 | 32 | 22,849 | 33% | 67% |
| CNN | New Day | 303 | 1,922 | 228 | 1,262 | 108,337,372 | 56% | 44% |
| Fox News | Fox And Friends | 528 | 2,947 | 356 | 1,967 | 41,837,432 | 61% | 39% |
| HLN | Morning Express w/Robin Meade | 65 | 357 | 53 | 268 | 1,463,002 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | Morning Joe | 598 | 7,048 | 280 | 2,570 | 27,261,147 | 45% | 55% |
Ratings for 8 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 45 | 1,466 | 26 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | New Day | 297 | 1,922 | 192 | 1,262 | 108,337,372 | 56% | 44% |
| Fox News | Fox And Friends | 645 | 2,947 | 447 | 1,967 | 41,837,432 | 61% | 39% |
| HLN | Morning Express w/Robin Meade | 49 | 357 | 44 | 268 | 1,463,002 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | Morning Joe | 452 | 7,048 | 226 | 2,570 | 27,261,147 | 45% | 55% |
Ratings for 9 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 84 | 1,466 | 67 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | News Room | 10 | 42 | 6 | 23 | 23,586 | 27% | 73% |
| Comedy Central | The Daily Show | 104 | 1,943 | 98 | 1,667 | 9,311,062 | 62% | 38% |
| Fox News | America’s Newsroom | 39 | 269 | 23 | 186 | 1,089,909 | 71% | 29% |
| HLN | Morning Express w/Robin Meade | 45 | 357 | 36 | 268 | 1,463,002 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | The Rundown w/José Díaz-Balart | 123 | 431 | 36 | 243 | 5,462,448 | 52% | 48% |
Ratings for 10 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 84 | 1,466 | 64 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | News Room | 4 | 42 | 4 | 23 | 23,586 | 27% | 73% |
| Comedy Central | The Nightly Show | 59 | 1,439 | 46 | 1,062 | 11,951,736 | 63% | 37% |
| Fox News | America’s Newsroom | 47 | 269 | 26 | 186 | 1,089,909 | 71% | 29% |
| HLN | Morning Express w/Robin Meade | 45 | 357 | 40 | 268 | 1,463,002 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | The Rundown w/José Díaz-Balart | 89 | 431 | 43 | 243 | 5,462,448 | 52% | 48% |
Ratings for 11 am
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | Consider This | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 508 | 100% | 0% |
| CNN | News Room | 4 | 42 | 4 | 23 | 23,586 | 27% | 73% |
| Fox News | Happening Now | 41 | 117 | 26 | 70 | 640,362 | 75% | 25% |
| HLN | Morning Express w/Robin Meade | 16 | 357 | 14 | 268 | 1,463,002 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | News Nation w/ Tamron Hall | 92 | 459 | 41 | 321 | 5,695,345 | 39% | 61% |
Ratings for 12 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 106 | 1,466 | 92 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | Legal View w/Banfield | 16 | 24 | 14 | 22 | 26,361 | 71% | 29% |
| Fox News | Outnumbered | 415 | 1,187 | 264 | 816 | 4,327,218 | 68% | 32% |
| HLN | The Daily Share | 24 | 313 | 24 | 213 | 6,574,689 | 57% | 43% |
| MSNBC | Andrea Mitchell Reports | 100 | 229 | 58 | 165 | 802,518 | 67% | 33% |
Ratings for 1 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 90 | 1,466 | 61 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | Wolf | 36 | 941 | 25 | 717 | 50,600,166 | 69% | 31% |
| Fox News | Happening Now | 8 | 117 | 7 | 70 | 640,362 | 75% | 25% |
| HLN | The Daily Share | 16 | 313 | 14 | 213 | 6,574,689 | 57% | 43% |
| MSNBC | Ronan Farrow Daily | 96 | 1,134 | 60 | 612 | 6,793,050 | 34% | 66% |
Ratings for 2 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 69 | 1,466 | 58 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| Al Jazeera | TechKnow | 1 | 39 | 1 | 32 | 22,849 | 33% | 67% |
| CNN | News Room | 0 | 42 | 0 | 23 | 23,586 | 27% | 73% |
| Fox News | The Real Story w/Gretchen Carlson | 43 | 138 | 34 | 118 | 1,482,638 | 72% | 28% |
| HLN | The Daily Share | 17 | 313 | 14 | 213 | 6,574,689 | 57% | 43% |
| MSNBC | The Reid Report | 203 | 630 | 85 | 348 | 3,523,890 | 45% | 55% |
Ratings for 3 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| CNN | News Room | 1 | 42 | 1 | 23 | 23,586 | 27% | 73% |
| Fox News | Shepard Smith Reporting | 54 | 142 | 46 | 118 | 918,063 | 60% | 40% |
| HLN | The Daily Share | 14 | 313 | 9 | 213 | 6,574,689 | 57% | 43% |
| MSNBC | The Cycle | 50 | 161 | 41 | 120 | 2,139,056 | 65% | 35% |
| MSNBC | The Cycle (w/ Host Accounts) | 315 | 1,317 | 227 | 934 | 14,767,545 | 67% | 33% |
Ratings for 4 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 101 | 1,466 | 93 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | The Lead w/Jake Tapper | 219 | 1,856 | 183 | 1,291 | 27,570,437 | 70% | 30% |
| Fox News | Your World | 266 | 1,256 | 173 | 915 | 2,400,222 | 63% | 37% |
| HLN | The Daily Share | 40 | 313 | 29 | 213 | 6,574,689 | 57% | 43% |
| MSNBC | NOW with Alex Wagner | 97 | 185 | 68 | 138 | 643,501 | 68% | 32% |
Ratings for 5 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | The Ed Show | 859 | 2,118 | 333 | 913 | 12,324,287 | 63% | 37% |
| Al Jazeera | Inside Story (5-5:30) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 501 | 0% | 100% |
| CNN | The Situation Room | 143 | 941 | 111 | 717 | 50,600,166 | 69% | 31% |
| Fox News | The Five | 853 | 1,525 | 554 | 1,023 | 9,545,882 | 66% | 34% |
| Fox News | The Five w/Hosts | 1,302 | 5,819 | 867 | 3,732 | 24,913,864 | 65% | 35% |
| HLN | What Would You Do? | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 254,978 | 0% | 0% |
Ratings for 6 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 108 | 1,466 | 72 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | The Situation Room (6 – 6:30) | 253 | 941 | 203 | 717 | 50,600,166 | 69% | 31% |
| Comedy Central | The Daily Show | 47 | 1,943 | 46 | 1,667 | 9,311,062 | 62% | 38% |
| Comedy Central | The Nightly Show | 114 | 1,439 | 85 | 1,062 | 11,951,736 | 63% | 37% |
| Fox News | Special Report w/Bret Baier | 343 | 1,208 | 257 | 908 | 6,592,947 | 60% | 40% |
| MSNBC | PoliticsNation w/ Al Sharpton | 41 | 84 | 30 | 62 | 1,656,163 | 79% | 21% |
Ratings for 7 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | Real Money with Ali Velshi | 9 | 62 | 6 | 49 | 1,396,615 | 75% | 25% |
| CNN | Out Front w/Erin Burnett | 509 | 1,893 | 359 | 1,363 | 82,676,992 | 62% | 38% |
| Fox News | On The Record w/Greta Van Susteren | 1,224 | 4,902 | 836 | 3,151 | 25,221,615 | 55% | 45% |
| MSNBC | Hardball w/ Chris Matthews | 398 | 977 | 239 | 668 | 6,469,833 | 59% | 41% |
Ratings for 8 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 78 | 1,466 | 61 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| CNN | Anderson Cooper 360 | 698 | 1,935 | 473 | 1,328 | 14,896,983 | 41% | 59% |
| Fox News | The O’Reilly Factor | 344 | 1,412 | 263 | 1,003 | 21,616,247 | 67% | 33% |
| MSNBC | Morning Joe At Night | 1,705 | 7,048 | 586 | 2,570 | 27,261,147 | 45% | 55% |
Ratings for 9 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Fox News | The Kelly File | 3,961 | 7,009 | 1,813 | 3,588 | 109,343,966 | 62% | 38% |
| MSNBC | Morning Joe At Night | 1,427 | 7,048 | 616 | 2,570 | 27,261,147 | 45% | 55% |
Ratings for 10 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | Consider This | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 508 | 100% | 0% |
| Fox News | Hannity | 1,424 | 9,215 | 963 | 5,383 | 52,274,266 | 58% | 42% |
| HBO | Real Time w/Bill Maher | 942 | 2,884 | 530 | 2,112 | 17,431,713 | 64% | 36% |
Ratings for 11 pm
| Network | Show | Twts Hour | Twts Day | UT Hour | UT Day | Reach | Male | Female |
| Al Jazeera | News | 40 | 1,466 | 26 | 1,002 | 4,103,612 | 55% | 45% |
| Fox News | The O’Reilly Factor | 96 | 1,412 | 77 | 1,003 | 21,616,247 | 67% | 33% |
| HBO | Real Time w/Bill Maher (Rerun) | 412 | 2,884 | 328 | 2,112 | 17,431,713 | 64% | 36% |
Definition of terms used in this report:
- Network: For the purposes of total network mentions, the count is the total unique tweets that mention any of the shows tracked on the network or the network’s general Twitter account (e.g., @CNN).
- Mentions During Hour or Tweets Hour: The number of tweets that mention the show during the hour specified. For shows that are repeat later in the day, the first (and often live) showing usually garners the most mentions by a significant margin.
- Mentions During day or Tweets Day: The total number of mentions a show received from midnight to midnight, eastern time.
- Tweet Count: The number of tweets (including retweets) that mention a show.
- Unique Tweeters (Also labeled ‘UT‘): The number of Twitter users who have sent one or more tweets mentioning a show. If a user sends more than one tweet, they still only count once. For individual shows, both the unique tweeters during an hour as well as throughout the day are shown.
- Reach: A measure of the number of impressions a collection of tweets could make. For each tweet that is sent, I add up how many people follow the person tweeting it — how many timelines that tweet will show up in. Thus, if network A has 10,000 mentions from people with an average of 10 followers, the reach will be 00,000. On the other hand, if network B has 10,000 mentions from people with an average of 100 followers, the reach will be 1,000,000. So network B has much greater reach: tweets mentioning network B will potentially be seen 10 times as often as tweets about network A. There’s no guarantee that that many people actually see or read the tweet; in fact, it’s probably safe to say a very small fraction do. For individual shows, reach is only calculate on the entire day’s tweets: there’s no point in assuming that people read the tweets in real time.
- Male / Female: An estimate of the demographics of a show’s audience. Note that this number is an imprecise estimate.
Cable News Twitter Ratings are still experimental. If you have any suggestions, find any errors, or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at admin@socialseer.com
For further discussion of how these stats are calculated, please see this blog post. Especially the part about how I determine the gender of Twitter users.