Fox News viewership crushes CNN, MSNBC in April as ‘The Five’ finishes as most-watched show on cable news
Fox News Channel finished April as the most-watched cable news network, crushing MSNBC and CNN once again.
Fox News has now topped MSNBC and CNN for 38-straight months among total viewers and for 39-straight months during primetime.
Fox News averaged 1.3 million total day viewers, finishing April as the only network on basic cable to surpass the one-million viewer mark. MSNBC finished second with 864,000 average viewers and ESPN finished third with 784,000.
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During primetime, Fox News averaged 1.9 million to finish with a 202% lead over CNN and 58% advantage over MSNBC.
"The Five," which recently finished the first quarter of 2024 as cable’s high-rated program for the 10th straight quarter, averaged 3 million viewers to finish as the most-watched show in cable news during April as Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro and rotating co-hosts Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. remain on top.
"Jesse Watters Primetime," "Hannity," Gutfeld!" and "Special Report with Bret Baier" rounded out the top five as Fox News aired 92 of the top 100 telecasts in cable news during April.
"Gutfeld!" averaged 2.1 million viewers to outdraw CBS’ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," NBC’s "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon," and "Late Night with Seth Meyers."
When it comes to the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, Fox News averaged 156,000 total day viewers compared to 88,000 apiece for CNN and MSNBC. During primetime, Fox News averaged 219,000 viewers from the critical category while MSNBC had 114,000 and CNN finished with 113,000.
During the jam-packed month of April, Fox News was home to the top six programs in cable news and the top 14 programs among the demo. "Gutfeld!" averaged 295,000 demo viewers to finish as the No. 1 cable news program in the critical category.
Along the way, Fox News continued to be America’s go-to network for breaking news as more viewers tuned into the network than CNN and MSNBC for coverage of Iran’s attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran.
"FOX News @ Night" with Trace Gallagher" also dominated its timeslot and "FOX & Friends" finished as the most-watched morning show on cable for the 38th straight month.
"America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered," "The Story with Martha MacCallum," and "Your World with Neil Cavuto" also had strong months to help keep Fox News as the No. 1 news network on cable.
"The Big Weekend Show" averaged 1.3 million viewers to finish as the top show on Saturdays, while "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" averaged 1.6 million for the Sunday crown.
Fox News is also home to the most politically diverse audience as more Democrats and Independents watch FNC than CNN and MSNBC, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion.
All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.