NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Fox News Channel's prime-time lineup gets plenty of attention, but, lately, the network's viewers have been drawn to an early-bird special.
In October, Fox's 鈥淭he Five鈥� eclipsed every show on cable news in popularity for the first time ever, the Nielsen company said. That's highly unusual for a program that airs at 5 p.m. Eastern and in the midafternoon on the West Coast; the number of people watching television typically increases in prime time after the workday is done.
Yet during October, 鈥淭he Five鈥� averaged 3.11 million viewers, narrowly beating Fox's 鈥淭ucker Carlson Tonight,鈥� which had 3.08 million, Nielsen said.
The colorful, often sarcastic panel show features four people offering a conservative point of view on issues of the day, with one Democrat trying to get a few words in. Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and Dana Perino are regular cast members, with one other conservative voice rotating in.
The show recently lost Juan Williams as a Democratic regular. Recent shows have cycled in Harold Ford, Jr., Geraldo Rivera or Jessica Tarlov as contrarian voices.
鈥淭he Five鈥� started as a temporary fill-in a decade ago after Fox cut ties with Glenn Beck in the time slot but has proven durable. Fox tested the show in prime time a couple of years ago, but its audience didn't move with it.
All five episodes of 鈥淭he Five鈥� last week reached at least 3 million viewers, Nielsen said.
Behind a Thursday night NFL game and the Atlanta Braves' World Series-clinching win, the Fox broadcast network won the week in prime time. Fox averaged 6.9 million viewers, with NBC at 5.2 million, CBS at 4.9 million, ABC at 2.8 million, Univision at 1.3 million, Ion Television at 890,000 and Telemundo at 820,000.
Two season-opening episodes of the Kevin Costner-led Western 鈥淵ellowstone鈥� on the Paramount cable network had larger audiences than any drama on broadcast network television last week, an impressive feat.
The first episode had nearly 8.4 million viewers Sunday night, Nielsen said.
ESPN was the most popular cable network in prime time, averaging 2.76 million viewers. Fox News had 2.74 million, Paramount had 1.64 million, Hallmark had 1.41 million and MSNBC had 1.1 million.
ABC's 鈥淲orld News Tonight鈥� won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8 million viewers last week. NBC's 鈥淣ightly News鈥� had 6.9 million and the 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� had 5 million.
For the week of Nov. 1-7, the top 20 programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. NFL Football: Tennessee at L.A. Rams, NBC, 14.21 million.
2. World Series: Atlanta at Houston, Game 6, Fox, 13.97 million.
3. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at Kansas City, ESPN, 11.96 million
4. NFL Football: N.Y. Jets at Indianapolis, Fox, 11.65 million.
5. 鈥淣FL Pregame,鈥� NBC, 11.37 million.
6. 鈥淭he OT,鈥� Fox, 10.97 million.
7. 鈥淔ootball Night in America, Part 3,鈥� NBC, 8.69 million.
8. 鈥淵ellowstone鈥� (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Paramount, 8.38 million.
9. 鈥淵ellowstone鈥� (Sunday, 9:13 p.m.), Paramount, 7.84 million.
10. 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� CBS, 7.53 million.
11. 鈥淣FL Pregame,鈥� Fox, 7.31 million.
12. 鈥淣CIS,鈥� CBS, 7.28 million.
13. 鈥淵oung Sheldon,鈥� CBS, 7.12 million.
14. 鈥淐hicago Fire,鈥� NBC, 7 million.
15. 鈥淔BI,鈥� CBS, 6.99 million.
16. 鈥淐hicago Med,鈥� NBC, 6.67 million.
17. 鈥淭he Equalizer,鈥� CBS, 6.64 million.
18. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� (Monday), NBC, 6.55 million.
19. 鈥淏lue Bloods,鈥� CBS, 6.2 million.
20. 鈥淕hosts,鈥� CBS, 5.94 million.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
