Fox News Just Beat a Broadcast Giant in TV Ratings

Fox News Channel continued its unprecedented dominance of cable news in January, marking 24 consecutive years as the top-rated network. 

The cable channel’s ratings rivaled those of broadcast TV networks and beat CBS, even though those channels are more widely available to a bigger audience. CBS suffered its worst ratings this century across multiple programs, according to Nielsen data released Tuesday. 

“This milestone reflects the dedication and hard work that has defined the network since its launch 30 years ago,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement. “We are not only leading cable, but rivaling the broadcast networks.” 

In January, Fox News averaged 2.4 million viewers in weekday prime time, topping CBS’ 2.2 million viewers. Against its cable-news competitors, Fox News commanded nearly 60% of total viewership across both total day and prime time. 

Top 5 Shows 

The five most popular shows on Fox News during the first month of the year included:  

1. “The Five,” the 5 p.m. roundtable-style discussion show that reached a total audience of 3.7 million people and recorded an average audience of 2.765 million.  

2. “Jesse Watters Primetime,” the 8 p.m. show hosted by Jesse Watters that reached up to 3 million viewers and held an average audience of nearly 2.3 million. 

3. “Gutfeld!” which averaged an audience of 2.1 million while it reached up to 2.7 million people. 

4. “Special Report with Bret Baier,” the popular 6 p.m. nightly news show, which is in constant competition with its broadcast TV rivals. It averaged an audience of 2.024 million and reached up to 2.706 million. 

5. “The Ingraham Angle,” the 7 p.m. show with host Laura Ingraham that reached an audience of upward of 2.5 million in January.  

Beating the Competition 

Over the past several months, Fox News has challenged broadcast TV news for viewers. 

“Special Report with Bret Baier” beat CBS’ evening newscast in 15 major markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Tampa, while also topping ABC’s nightly news show in four markets. 

Fox News swept cable news’ top five programs in total viewers, led by “The Five” with 3.7 million viewers. Greg Gutfeld’s late-night program outperformed all broadcast and cable competitors, drawing 2.8 million viewers compared to Stephen Colbert’s 2 million on CBS and Jimmy Fallon’s 1.1 million on ABC. 

Morning show “Fox & Friends” maintained its lead for the 59th consecutive month in the key 25-54 demographic, beating “CBS Mornings” in 21 major markets and topping ABC’s “Good Morning America” in 14 markets. 

Fox News also dominated weekend programming, with every hour winning in total viewers over CNN and MSNBC by double to triple digits. Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” remained the most-watched cable news show of the day, with 1.8 million viewers. The 11 a.m. show that follows, “The Sunday Briefing,” anchored by Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich, earned the No. 2 spot in cable news with an average of 1.7 million viewers. 

Fox’s viewership throughout Monday-Sunday prime-time hours was up 11% from December, surpassing CNN by nearly 1.4 million viewers.