Fox News Tops Cable News Competitors in Florida Primary Ratings

CNN out-rates rival MSNBC in total viewers and the demo, but all three networks are down slightly compared to the South Carolina primary when Newt Gingrich routed Mitt Romney.

1:27 PM PST 2/1/2012 by Marisa Guthrie

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Fox News was predictably atop the cable news ratings for Tuesday night’s Florida primary, which saw Mitt Romney easily beat Newt Gingrich in the critical battleground state.

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From 7-11 p.m., Fox News averaged 2.4 million viewers with 607,000 among news’ target demographic of 25-54-year-olds. CNN topped MSNBC in both total viewers (1.04 million to 966,000) and the demo (377,000 to 241,000).

Those averages are down slightly compared to coverage of the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Jan. 21, during which Gingrich routed Romney.

And that was in spite of a rousing and combative concession speech from Gingrich during which the former speaker vowed to fight on, declaring: "We are going to contest every place, and we are going to win, and we will be in Tampa as the nominee in August!"