Fox News extends lead over CBS, NBC in key category through November
Fox News Channel continued to excel throughout November, finishing ahead of NBC and CBS in weekday primetime viewership year-to-date while leaving CNN and newly rebranded MS NOW in the dust.
Since the start of 2025, Fox News has averaged 3.2 million weekday primetime viewers, ranking it as the second highest-rated network in all television and outperforming CBS and NBC.
While Fox News continues to compete with broadcast offerings, it easily bested cable news competition.
During November, Fox News Channel outdrew CNN and MS NOW, which was MSNBC until mid-month, combined in key measures as the liberal networks hit historic lows.
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Fox News averaged 1.4 million total day viewers compared to 600,000 for MS NOW and 430,000 for CNN. It was CNN’s worst November in the category since 2013.
During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., Fox News averaged more than 2 million total viewers while MS NOW settled for 945,000. As a result, MS NOW had its worst November among both total day and primetime viewers since 2015.
CNN managed a dismal average primetime audience of only 556,000 for its weakest November performance in the category since 1997.
Fox News held 57% of the cable news share in total day and 58% in primetime.
When it comes to the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, Fox News averaged 123,000 total day viewers compared to 70,000 for CNN and only 55,000 for MS NOW. It was much of the same during primetime. Fox News averaged 184,000 demo viewers compared to 100,000 for CNN and 88,000 for MS NOW.
MS NOW’s demo performances were the network’s worst November in the category among both total and primetime viewers since 1997.
"The Five," with Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., averaged 3.6 million total viewers and 293,000 in the coveted demo to finish as the most-watched cable news show at any time and the No. 1 show on television at 5 p.m. ET.
"Jesse Watters Primetime" averaged nearly 3 million total viewers and 272,000 in the demo to lead all cable news primetime offerings in both categories.
"Gutfeld!" averaged 2.5 million total viewers and 270, 000 in the demo to outperform every broadcast and cable late-night competitor, including CBS’ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," NBC’s "Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon," NBC’s "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show."
"Hannity" remained dominant at 9 p.m. ET with 2.4 million viewers and 224,000 in the demo. "The Ingraham Angle" averaged 2.5 million viewers and 224,000 in the demo as host Laura Ingraham continued her reign as the highest-rated woman in cable news.
"FOX News @ Night with Trace Gallagher" also topped its time slot with 1.4 million viewers.
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"Special Report with Bret Baier" averaged 2.7 million viewers and 245,000 among the demo to dominate its time slot among cable news offerings while outdrawing "CBS Evening News" in 13 top markets across the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Baier’s newscast also beat ABC’s "World News Tonight" in five markets, including New Orleans, Jacksonville and St. Louis as "Special Report" continues to close the gap with broadcast competition.
"FOX & Friends" finished November with 1.3 million viewers and remained the top cable news program in the mornings, leading "CBS Mornings" in 23 major markets, ABC’s "Good Morning America" in 17 markets and NBC’s "Today" in five markets.
"America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," Harris Faulkner’s "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered," "America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith," Martha MacCallum’s "The Story" and "The Will Cain Show" all had strong months as Fox News’ daytime lineup continues to dominate the competition.
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"Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany" averaged 1.2 million total viewers to finish as the No. 1 cable news program on Saturdays, while "Sunday Morning Futures" took the Sunday crown with 1.5 million total viewers.
The newly launched "The Sunday Briefing," anchored by Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich, was the second most watched cable news program on Sundays, averaging 1.2 million viewers.
"FOX & Friends Weekend," "Life, Liberty & Levin," "My View with Lara Trump," "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy," The Big Weekend Show" and "One Nation with Brian Kilmeade" all helped extend Fox News’ dominance to the weekends, too.
Data courtesy of Nielsen Big Data + Panel.
