Fox News Continues To See Large Year-To-Year Viewer Uptick As It Tops February Ratings; MSNBC And CNN Show Gains After Post-Election Falloff
Fox News showed big gains across the board in the past month, in what it said was its highest rated February in its history.
Rivals MSNBC and CNN were well behind, but they did show improvement from a post-election fall off.
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During the first full month of the Trump administration, Fox News averaged 3.09 million viewers in primetime, up 50% from the same month in 2024. MSNBC averaged 1.13 million, down 16%, and CNN averaged 553,000, down 3%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 387,000 viewers, up 68%, while CNN posted 122,000, up 5%, and MSNBC averaged 111,000, down 9%.
In total day, Fox News averaged 2 million, up 50%, compared to MSNBC with 638,000, down 25%, and CNN with 433,000, down 9%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 252,000, up 57%, compared to CNN with 82,000, down 6%, and MSNBC with 66,000, down 21%.
The Five was the top show, averaging 4.7 million total viewers, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime with 4.19 million, Hannity with 3.6 million, Special Report with Bret Baier with 3.59 million and The Ingraham Angle with 3.49 million.
In the 25-54 demo, Jesse Watters Primetime topped with 518,000, compared to The Five with 517,000, Hannity with 467,000, Gutfeld! with 466,000 and The Ingraham Angle with 427,000.
MSNBC and CNN have been predicting audiences would return following the inauguration, and the latest figures show signs of recovery.
MSNBC’s primetime audience grew by 54% in total viewers versus January, and by 76% in the 25-54 demo. Its top rated The Rachel Maddow Show, running five nights a week for the first 100 days of Trump’s term, averaged 2.1 million viewers, the network said.
CNN’s audience was up by 6% in primetime total viewers compared to January, and by 3% in the 25-54 demo. Its top rated show was The Lead with Jake Tapper, averaging 679,000 viewers.
Fox News’ The Will Cain Show, which replaced Neil Cavuto’s 4 p.m. ET program, averaged more than 2.8 million viewers and 337,000 in the 25-54 demo. The network said that its audience was up 81% in total viewers and 102% in the demo versus Cavuto’s show last year.
The premiere last week of My View with Lara Trump, the Saturday evening show hosted by President Donald Trump’s daughter in law, averaged 2.42 million viewers and 290,000 in the 25-54 demo, the network said.
Among other networks, NewsNation averaged 64,000 in total day, up 21% from a year earlier. Its top rated show was Cuomo, averaging 180,000 viewers.
Newsmax, meanwhile, averaged 246,000, up 30%. Its top rated show was Rob Schmitt Tonight, averaging 520,000.
The figures are from Nielsen via Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.
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