Fox News Channel makes history with highest-rated quarter in history among weekday viewers

Fox News Channel had the highest-rated quarter among weekday total viewers in cable news history during the first quarter of 2025, also topping broadcast competition in key measurables along the way. 

During the historic quarter, Fox News averaged 2.2 million total day viewers on weekdays as Americans relied on the network for information and analysis during a momentous news cycle. 

Fox News averaged 1.9 million total viewers, double the viewership of No. 2 ESPN, which averaged 869,000 total day viewers. MSNBC managed an average audience of 593,000 and CNN settled for 428,000 despite the news-heavy quarter. 

Fox News also finished No. 1 in all of cable during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., averaging over three million viewers to trounce all other networks. ESPN finished second with 2.3 million total primetime viewers, and MSNBC finished third with a smidge over one million. Fox News has now marked 93 consecutive quarters as the most-watched cable news network in primetime. 

FOX NEWS DIGITAL CRUSHES CNN, NY TIMES IN KEY METRICS DURING FEBRUARY TO FINISH AS TOP NEWS BRAND

CNN averaged only 558,000 and lost to HGTV and Hallmark as the network’s primetime lineup continues to struggle. 

It was Fox News’ highest quarter cable news share ever, dwarfing with 65% of the audience in total day and 66% in primetime. Fox News saw double-digit year-over-year growth in all categories while CNN and MSNBC saw declines across the board in both total day and primetime.

Fox News’ primetime lineup also outdrew broadcast competition on NBC and ABC for the entire quarter. 

Fox News completely dominated cable news among the key demographic of adults aged 25-54, averaging 247,000 total day viewers among the advertiser-coveted group compared to 79,000 for CNN. It was CNN lowest rated quarter ever in the category and the fourth time since the beginning of 2024 that CNN has had an all-time low.

During primetime, Fox News averaged 380,000 demo viewers compared to 121,000 for CNN. 

MSNBC’s ongoing struggles in the critical category continued, as it managed only 57,000 total day viewers among the demo to finish behind options including Investigation Discovery, FX, HGTV, Food Network. 

MSNBC’s turnout was even worse during primetime, as the liberal network managed only 96,000 primetime viewers among the key demo to finish behind 18 different cable news offerings, including A&E, Nick-at-Nite, Comedy Central and Adult Swim. It was MSNBC’s sixth lowest-rated quarter ever and things aren’t expected to get any easier in the second quarter when "The Rachel Maddow Show" reverts to only airing once a week following President Trump’s first 100 days in office. 

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"The Five" averaged 4.6 million viewers to finish as the No. 1 show on cable news as Fox News programs occupied the top 12 spots. 

"The Five," with Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro and rotating co-hosts Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., made cable news history as the first non-primetime program to be the most watched by viewers for 14 consecutive quarters. It also surpassed broadcast programs including "American Idol," "Survivor" and "The Neighborhood."

"Special Report with Bret Baier," which featured exclusive newsworthy interviews including sit-downs with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Elon Musk and his DOGE team, dominated its timeslot with an average audience of 3.5 million viewers. "Special Report" even outdrew "CBS Evening News" five times during the first quarter. 

"Gutfeld!" continued to break records as it delivered its highest-rated quarter in program history with 3.3 million viewers, topping all broadcast and late-night television, including CBS’ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," NBC’s "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon," "Late Night with Seth Meyers," CBS’ "After Midnight" and Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

"Jesse Watters Primetime," "Hannity," "The Ingraham Angle," "The Will Cain Show," "Outnumbered," "The Faulkner Focus," "America Reports" with John Roberts and Sandra Smith, Martha MacCallum’s "The Story" and America’s Newsroom with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer" all also topped anything MSNBC or CNN had to offer, while "FOX News @ Night" and "FOX & Friends" also dominated their timeslots. 

"America’s Newsroom," "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered" and "America Reports" all had their highest-rated quarters of all time.

FOX NEWS CHANNEL HAS BEST FEBRUARY IN NETWORK HISTORY, CRUSHES CNN AND MSNBC

MSNBC’s "The Rachel Maddow Show" finished No. 13 as the most-watched program that doesn’t air on Fox News with nearly two million viewers. CNN’s most-popular program was "The Lead with Jake Tapper," which averaged 662,000 total viewers to finish No. 26 among cable news shows.

Fox News also continued to shine throughout the weekend during the quarter, thumping CNN and MSNBC across both total day and primetime among total viewers and winning every hour of the day, topping the liberal outlets combined among total viewers. 

"My View with Lara Trump" was the most-watched show on Saturdays with 1.8 million viewers, while "Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday Morning Futures" took the Sunday crown with 2.2 million. 

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More Independents and Democrats continued to tune in to Fox News over any other cable network, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion. This helped Fox News dominate coverage of political events, topping all of television with coverage of Inauguration Day and President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. 

"Hannity" landed the first joint interview with President Trump and Elon Musk on February 18, which drew a staggering average audience of 5.4 million.

All ratings data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.