25-54: Rachel Tops Bill Wednesday Night

“The Rachel Maddow Show” beat Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” on Wednesday night to become the most-watched show in cable news among the key news demographic of adults age 25-54.

According to The Wrap, Maddow averaged 607,000 viewers among the demo, compared to 561,000 for O’Reilly as advertisers continue to distance themselves from the Fox News star amid sexual harassment claims.

O’Reilly still won in total viewers, averaging 3.6 million compared to 2.6 million for Maddow. The shows don’t go head-to head, as Maddow starts at 9 p.m. ET while O’Reilly starts at 8 p.m. ET, but they are the ratings heavyweight of their respective networks.

Maddow also beat her direct Fox News competition, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” in the demo but lost in total viewers. Carlson averaged 2.8 million viewers and 549,000 among the demo.

O’Reilly has seen his show lose advertisers, but not necessarily viewers, since a New York Times report on Saturday detailed payouts totaling about $13 million to five women to settle claims of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior. O’Reilly has denied any wrongdoing.

Despite the demo loss to Maddow on Wednesday, “The O’Reilly Factor” has averaged 3.7 million viewers this week, which is up 24 percent compared to the same days in 2016 and up 10 percent compared to last week. O’Reilly is up 32 percent in the demo compared to last year.

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