Russia's invasion of Ukraine sends news network ratings up

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent television viewers to the cable news networks for updates, with Fox News Channel gaining the largest audience and CNN the most dramatic increase

NEW YORK -- Cable news viewership jumped during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Fox News Channel leading the way and CNN showing the most dramatic increases.

CNN, Fox and MSNBC collectively averaged 6.4 million viewers in prime time between the start of the war last Wednesday and Sunday night. That's up from their January average of 4 million, the Nielsen company said.

For the full day between Wednesday and Sunday, Fox averaged 2.32 million viewers, up 64% from the quieter news month of January. CNN's audience soared from 633,000 in January to 1.75 million last week, up 178%. MSNBC had 980,000 for its war coverage, up 51% over January.

Those numbers match a trend: CNN tends to have the most dramatic increases during big news events while its rivals, more focused on political talk, are steadier in the quiet periods.