Iowa Caucus Coverage Goes to Fox News in Cable Ratings Race

12:43 PM PST 1/4/2012 by Michael O'Connell

Comments

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

The top-rated news network outperformed closest competitor, CNN, by double in primetime and late night coverage -- which lasted until after 2:30 in the morning on the east coast.

Fast national ratings for Tuesday night give Fox News an easy win for coverage of the Republican Iowa caucuses.

VIDEO: CNN's Iowa Caucus Coverage Enlists Groggy GOP Chairwoman to Tabulate Votes

Coverage of the race lasted until nearly 3:00 a.m., with the last districts not reporting votes until 2:30 a.m. ET. Altogether, Fox averaged 2.15 million viewers for the night, with 2.63 million tuning in between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. and an average of 1.82 million watching the last four hours of coverage. This gave the network 22 percent growth over its Tuesday primetime showings in December.

CNN, typically in third behind MSNBC, pulled ahead of the liberal-skewing net for its caucus coverage. CNN netted 1 million viewers over the course of the block, with 1.31 million in primetime and 839,000 in late night. The net did show the most growth, more than doubling its recent Tuesday average of 541,000.

Coming in last with an average 932,000 for the night was MSNBC. Coverage brought in 1.2 million during primetime and 693,000 during late night. MSNBC has recently averaged 903,000 during Tuesday primetime.

Among viewers 25-54, Fox remained on top 1ith 637,000 for the night, followed by CNN (390,000) and MSNBC (259,000).