King Charles III and Queen Camilla have been technically established in such monikers in the United Kingdom since last September when Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth II passed away. But the coronation ceremony to officially commemorate their roles took place on Saturday, May 6.
Global observers also took notice of Meghan Markle’s absence and the brief but obstructed (thanks to the feathered hat of Harrys aunt’s Princess Anne) appearance of Meghan’s husband Prince Harry during the ceremony; both of them have been publicly criticized and shed a negative light upon the royal family in recent years.
While it was understandably a ratings hit on their U.K. homeland, averaging a reported 18.8 million Brits for the 2-hour ceremony at Westminster Abbey (and a peak of 20.4 million at about 7 AM ET/noon London time, based on figures by Britain’s Broadcasters Audience Research Board), it drew a more modest 11.6 million viewers (with coverage that began at 6 AM Eastern/11 a.m. London) which included 2.16 million within the key 25-54 demographic across eleven networks combined in the United States, according to Nielsen Media Research.
This figure was on-par with the 11.4 million Americans who tuned in to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last September, although that event occurred on a Monday morning.
Of course, the numbers for King Charles III’s coronation paled in comparison to the nuptials of William and Kate in 2011 (22.8 million Americans) and Harry and Meghan (29 million Americans) in 2018.
ABC, the regular weekday morning leader in total viewers with Good Morning America, led all outlets in coverage during the 6-10 a.m. Eastern window on May 6 among total viewers (3.037 million) and adults 25-54 (688,000). Hosting the proceedings from London on ABC were GMA’s Michael Strahan, Lara Spencer, and Deborah Roberts.
NBC, with 2.723 million viewers and 538,000 adults 25-54, was runner-up.
Fox News Channel (FNC) — the lead cable outlet in coverage of last fall’s funeral for Queen Elizabeth II — remained cable’s total audience leader for this coronation with 1.604 million, which actually topped the viewership of the CBS broadcast network (1.581 million).
In the key 25-54 demo, though, it was CBS (276,000) and CNN (173,000) over FNC (160,000).
As for the rest of the outlets’ info, including a rare Spanish-language network win for Telemundo in live news event coverage:
- CNN: 0.972 million viewers; 173,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.694 million viewers; 77,000 adults 25-54
- BBC America: 0.261 million viewers; 67,000 adults 25-54
- Telemundo: 0.260 million viewers; 79,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.168 million viewers; 25,000 adults 25-54
- Univision: 0.166 million viewers; 57,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.100 million viewers; 19,000 adults 25-54
Cable news averages forMay 1-7, 2023:
Total Day(May 1-7 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.119 million viewers; 121,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 0.765 million viewers; 91,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.473 million viewers; 98,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.191 million viewers; 21,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.120 million viewers; 29,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.109 million viewers; 10,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.089 million viewers; 21,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.082 million viewers; 13,000 adults 25-54
Prime Time(May 1-6 @ 8-11 p.m.; May 7 @ 7-11 p.m.)
- Fox News Channel: 1.475 million viewers; 129,000 adults 25-54
- MSNBC: 1.191 million viewers; 125,000 adults 25-54
- CNN: 0.494 million viewers; 111,000 adults 25-54
- Newsmax: 0.307 million viewers; 33,000 adults 25-54
- CNBC: 0.140 million viewers; 33,000 adults 25-54
- The Weather Channel: 0.115 million viewers; 20,000 adults 25-54
- NewsNation: 0.107 million viewers; 22,000 adults 25-54
- Fox Business Network: 0.064 million viewers; 13,000 adults 25-54
- HLN: 0.054 million viewers; 11,000 adults 25-54
Top 10 most-watched cable news programs(and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks)in total viewers:
1. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 5/3/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.764 million viewers
2. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 5/2/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.719 million viewers
3. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 5/1/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.712 million viewers
4. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 5/4/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.545 million viewers
5. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Mon. 5/1/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.475 million viewers
6. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 5/5/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.347 million viewers
7. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 5/1/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.213 million viewers
8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Wed. 5/3/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.193 million viewers
9. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Thu. 5/4/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.122 million viewers
10. Special Report with Bret Baier (FOXNC, Mon. 5/1/2023 6:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.059 million viewers
103. Coronation of Charles III “Post Analysis” (CNN, Sat. 5/6/2023 11:00 AM, 60 min.) 1.156 million viewers
290. Eric Bolling The Balance (NMX, Thu. 5/4/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.521 million viewers
357. The Daily Show “May 1, 23 – Dulce Sloan” (CMDY, Mon. 5/1/2023 11:00 PM, 35 min.) 0.412 million viewers
400. Kudlow (FBN, Wed. 5/3/2023 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.340 million viewers
410. Closing Bell (CNBC, Wed. 5/3/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.324 million viewers
447. Heavy Rescue: 401 “(708) Take Your Time But Hurry Up” (TWC, Sun. 5/7/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.281 million viewers
468. Forensic Files (HLN, late Sat. 5/6/2023 5:30 AM, 30 min.) 0.265 million viewers
553. Cuomo (NWSN, Thu. 5/4/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.203 million viewers
781. Tooning Out The News “Tooning Out The News-123” (CMDY, Wed. 5/3/2023 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.109 million viewers
Top 10 cable news programs(and the topprograms of other outlets with their respective associated ranks)among adults 25-54:
1. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 5/3/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.311 million adults 25-54
2. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 5/2/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.301 million adults 25-54
3. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 5/1/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.270 million adults 25-54
4. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 5/4/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.248 million adults 25-54
5. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Wed. 5/3/2023 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.233 million adults 25-54
6. Coronation of Charles III “Post Analysis” (CNN, Sat. 5/6/2023 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.233 million adults 25-54
7. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 5/1/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.228 million adults 25-54
8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Mon. 5/1/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.228 million adults 25-54
9. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Tue. 5/2/2023 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.216 million adults 25-54
10. Special Report with Bret Baier (FOXNC, Mon. 5/1/2023 6:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.214 million adults 25-54
87. The Daily Show “May 1, 23 – Dulce Sloan” (CMDY, Mon. 5/1/2023 11:00 PM, 35 min.) 0.143 million adults 25-54
311. Forensic Files (HLN, late Sat. 5/6/2023 5:30 AM, 30 min.) 0.079 million adults 25-54
324. Closing Bell (CNBC, Wed. 5/3/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.076 million adults 25-54
404. Greg Kelly Reports (NMX, Tue. 5/2/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.054 million adults 25-54
456. Heavy Rescue: 401 “(708) Take Your Time But Hurry Up” (TWC, Sun. 5/7/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.046 million adults 25-54
494. Dan Abrams Live (NWSN, Wed. 5/3/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.040 million adults 25-54
509. Tooning Out The News “Tooning Out The News-123” (CMDY, Wed. 5/3/2023 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.039 million adults 25-54
635. Varney & Company (FBN, Fri. 5/5/2023 11:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.027 million adults 25-54
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research
