The viewership wave that followed President-elect Donald Trump’s Election Night victory greatly benefited Fox News as the network crested to ratings high. And viewers have continued to stay tuned to Fox News as the new administration takes shape, with some appointees coming from within the network.

According to Fox News, the outlet drew a 69% share of the cable news audience in total day and a 72% share in primetime—the best performance in its 28-year history

Meanwhile, MSNBC and CNN continued to swim at the bottom of that viewership wave as viewers continue to abandon both networks en masse. It should be noted that even as Fox News had plenty to boast about, all three networks saw double-digit drops compared to Election Week.

NETWORKS:

Nielsen live plus same-day data for the week saw FNC average 2.974 million total viewers and 360,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime. That translates to respective declines of -31% and -59% in the A25-54 demo relative to the week prior.  

In total day, Fox News averaged 1.862 million total viewers and 236,000 A25-54 viewers for declines of -29% and -50%, respectively.

Among all basic cable networks, Fox News finished as the No. 1 cable network with primetime total viewers, and No. 2 in the primetime demo. Across total day, it continued to lead in total viewers and dropped one spot to land at No. 2 in the demo.

MSNBC’s primetime lineup averaged 684,000 total viewers and 65,000 A25-54 viewers for steep week-to-week drops of -57% and -82%, respectively.

During total day, MSNBC averaged 487,000 total viewers and 45,000 A25-54 viewers for plunges of -50% and -74%, respectively. That’s MSNBC lowest-rated week in the total day demo in over 25 years.

MSNBC dropped from third place to fifth place with primetime total viewers and tumbled from fourth to 28th in the primetime demo, tied with the Lifetime Movie Network. During total day, it was the No. 4 network in total viewers and feel from fourth to 21st in the demo.

(News broke late Tuesday that NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, would be spinning off its cable assets into a separate publicly traded company, with MSNBC and CNBC reportedly separated from NBC News’ newsgathering operations.)

In primetime, CNN averaged 464,000 total primetime viewers and 88,000 A25-54 viewers for week-to-week declines of -62% and -80%, respectively.

Across total day, the network attracted 337,000 total viewers and 58,000 A25-54 viewers, which translates to respective declines -53% and -73% compared to the previous week. The silver lining for CNN was that it once again finished ahead of MSNBC in the demo during primetime and total day.

On the basic cable charts, CNN 10th most-watched network among primetime total viewers and 16th in the primetime demo. During total day, CNN dropped from fourth to fifth place with total viewers and slid from third to 12th in the total day demo. 

When looking at these networks’ performance during the same period a year ago (the week of Nov. 13):

• Reversing its downward week-to-week trend, Fox News saw primetime gains of +62% in total viewers and +69% in the A25-54 demo. During total day, FNC enjoyed gains of +52% in total viewers and +58% in the demo. That’s clear evidence of an election year bounce.
• MSNBC’s year-to-year portrait wasn’t as rosy. The network was down -45% in total viewers and -43% in the demo compared to 2023. During total day, the network declined -42% in total viewers and -47% in the demo.
• CNN saw smaller year-to-year declines, with its primetime schedule declining -9% in total viewers and -20% in the demo. During total day, CNN was down -26% in total viewers and -33% in the demo.

PROGRAMMING:

Fox News took all 15 spots of the most-watched cable news shows of the week, with The Five (4.369 million viewers at 5 p.m. ET) remaining at No. 1.

In the A25-54 demo, Gutfeld! (501,000 viewers at 10 p.m. ET) jumped over The Five to take the top spot. Once again, FNC occupied all of the 15 most-watched spots.

Prime Time

Total Day

Week of 11-11-24 Cable Ranker by Adweek on Scribd