Fox News host Sean Hannity now has the top-rated cable news program on television and has been beating his predecessor's ratings from the 2016 election cycle, according to the latest numbers from Nielsen Media Research.
Prior to leaving Fox back in early January, Megyn Kelly had her own show during the 9 p.m. time slot. Between Sept. 25 and Nov. 22 of last year, Kelly pulled in 3.06 million viewers, with 636,000 viewers being in the sought-after 25-54 age demographic, Mediaite reported.
Hannity is now back hosting that same spot. Between Sept. 25 and Nov. 22 of this year, Hannity has averaged 3.18 million total viewers, with 667,000 viewers being in the 25-54 demographic.
Hannity, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, originally hosted the 9 p.m. time slot a few years ago, but Kelly, who now hosts "Megyn Kelly Today" on NBC, took it over in an attempt to attract younger viewers and focus less on partisan punditry. The change temporarily pushed Hannity to the 10 p.m. time slot. There have been multiple changes with the Fox primetime lineup since that time, but Hannity returned to the 9 p.m. spot in September.
Since joining NBC, Kelly hasn't seen the same success, according to Mediaite.
Meanwhile, Kelly has dealt with some struggles as she makes the transition from cable news anchor to broadcast morning talk show host.
After seeing her limited summer-run Sunday news magazine draw middling ratings despite the widespread buzz, Kelly has also been seen as stumbling out the gate with her 9 AM morning program, Megyn Kelly Today. During the November sweeps period, her show was on track to deliver 2.3 million total viewers and 699,000 in the demo. While all network morning shows are seeing a downward trend and Kelly has made some ratings progress as of late, this would represent NBC’s lowest number during November since the Today brand took over the 9 AM slot in 2000.
Kelly's current show premiered on Sept. 25 and had a rocky start as her total viewership during debut week was down by 12 percent from that time slot last year.