FNC Defeats CNN and MSNBC Combined with Primetime Viewers
FNC Secures 86 of the Top 100 Cable News Telecasts in April
NEW YORK – May 2, 2023 – FOX News Channel (FNC) finished April 2023 as cable television’s most-watched network across both primetime and total day viewership and the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen Media Research. In terms of cable news, FNC marked 26 consecutive months defeating the competition in all categories, and bested CNN and MSNBC combined with primetime viewers. FNC also notched 86 of the top 100 cable news telecasts for the month. In total day, FNC delivered 1.3 million viewers and 161,000 in the 25-54 demo. In primetime, FNC netted 2.1 million viewers and 240,000 in the 25-54 demo. The network secured the top eight programs in cable news with viewers and the top 10 cable news shows in the 25-54 demo.
Attracting 50% of cable news viewers across primetime and 48% in total day, FNC continued to lead the genre’s audience share. According to Nielsen MRI-Simmons Fusion, FNC also remains the most-watched network across the political spectrum with more Independents and Democrats choosing FNC as their preferred network than MSNBC and CNN across total day and primetime.
This month, FOX News Channel’s Gutfeld! marked its second year disrupting the late night space, posting double digit gains in all categories for the month of April. Averaging 1.8 million viewers (+44%), 272,000 in A25-54 (+24%) and 163,000 in A18-49 (+23%), the show remained the second most-watched program in late night, outpacing ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Gutfeld! also toped CBS’ The Late Late Show with James Corden, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Daily Show across the board in viewers, the younger A25-54 and A18-49 demographics. Additionally, the newcomer has increased its share of the late-night audience from 19% to 28%, topping ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live(21%), NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon(+21%) and coming close to overtaking CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (+31%). Gutfeld! is the first program to overtake Colbert in viewers since January 2017 and since launch, has topped Colbert three months in total viewers and one month in the younger A25-54 demo. Gutfeld! also has the highest median income with those aged 25-54 and 18-49 and is the number one late night program with upscale viewers (100k+) in viewers and the younger demo.
FOX News’ 8 PM/ET combination hour of Tucker Carlson Tonight and FOX News Tonight hosted by Brian Kilmeade in April garnered 3,055,000 viewers and 390,000 with A25-54 due to an exclusive interview with Twitter CEO Elon Musk and the first interview with former President Trump post-indictment. FNC’s 5 PM/ET roundtable program The Five which has been number one in viewership for six consecutive quarters, was second in cable news with 3,026,000 viewers and 338,000 with A25-54. Hannity at 9 PM/ET scored 2.6 million viewers, 299,000 in the 25-54 demo achieving the fourth most-watched program in all categories and outpacing the competition on MSNBC and CNN combined with total viewers. Comparatively, CNN averaged just 572,000 viewers and 131,000 with A25-54 at 9 PM. At 10 PM/ET, The Ingraham Angle garnered over 2 million viewers and 255,000 in the 25-54 demo continuing her streak as the most-watched woman in cable news.
Evening newscast Special Report with Bret Baier (weeknights, 6 PM/ET) averaged over 2.2 million viewers and 250,000 in the 25-54 demo. At 7 PM/ET, FNC’s Jesse Watters Primetime finished as the third highest-rated cable news program seeing month-over-month gains in all categories, averaging 2.8 million viewers and 319,000 in the 25-54 demo. At 12 AM/ET, FOX News @ Night, anchored by Trace Gallagher, surpassed the competition, delivering 937,000 viewers and 150,000 with A25-54.
From 4-6 AM/ET, FOX & Friends First garnered 443,000 viewers and 70,000 with A25-54. FNC’s signature morning show FOX & Friends (weekdays, 6-9 AM/ET) finished April with 1.2 million viewers and 158,000 in the demo, easily outpacing the newly launched CNN This Morning and MSNBC’s Morning Joe across both categories. In fact, the program beat every offering on CNN in total viewers. CNN This Morning averaged just 371,000 viewers and 83,000 with A25-54 in April. FOX & Friends continues to make its mark as the number one cable news program in the mornings in both categories for the 24th consecutive month.
FNC’s daytime lineup, kicking off with two-hour morning news program, America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino (weekdays, 9-11 AM/ET), delivered 1.5 million viewers and 185,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Faulkner Focus at 11 AM/ET, anchored by Harris Faulkner, notched 1.5 million viewers and 187,000 in the 25-54 demo and bested CNN and MSNBC across the board. At 12 PM/ET,Outnumbered earned 1.6 million viewers and 203,000 in the 25-54 demo. From 1-3 PM/ET,America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith garnered 1.4 million viewers and 178,000 in the 25-54 demo. At 3 PM/ET, anchor and executive editor Martha MacCallum’s The Story averaged 1.4 million viewers and 178,000 in the 25-54 demo, while Your World with Neil Cavuto at 4 PM/ET nabbed 1.4 million viewers and 181,000 in the 25-54 category for the month. Notably, FNC’s Outnumbered, America’s Newsroom, The Faulkner Focus, all topped NBC’s Today with Hoda and Jenna, ABC’s GMA3, CBS’s The Talk and NBC News Daily with viewers.
FNC continued to excel against the competition on weekends throughout the month, outpacing CNN and MSNBC yet again across total day and primetime with viewers. On Saturday, Cavuto Live (Saturdays, 10 AM/ET) was the most-watched of the day with 1.2 million viewers, and 148,000 with A25-54. In fact, Cavuto Live has been the most-watched cable news program on Saturday in every month of 2023. FOX & Friends Weekend (Saturdays, 6-10 AM/ET) was the top show in the younger demo with 149,000 viewers with A25-54. At 8 PM/ET One Nation, helmed by Brian Kilmeade, garnered 1 million viewers and 91,000 in the 25-54 demo. FNC’s Lawrence Jones, the youngest Black solo primetime host in cable news, also scored 914,000 viewers and 83,000 in the 25-54 demo at 10 PM/ET with Lawrence Jones Cross Country at 10 PM/ET. Additionally, The FOX Report with Jon Scott (weekends, 6 PM/ET) averaged over 950,000 viewers and 93,000 with A25-54.
On Sundays, FNC’s Life, Liberty and Levin (Sundays, 8 PM/ET) earned the top-rated spot across the board for the entire weekend, with over 1.6 million viewers. At 10 AM/ET, Sunday Morning Futures earned the top show in the younger demo averaging 173,000 viewers with A25-54. MediaBuzz, hosted by Howard Kurtz at 11 AM/ET, delivered 1.2 million viewers and 139,000 in the 25-54 demo. Meanwhile, FNC’s Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy (Sundays, 7 PM/ET), outpaced every CNN and MSNBC weekend program with viewers drawing an audience of 1.3 million viewers. At 9 PM/ET, The Next Revolution with host Steve Hilton secured 1.1 million viewers and 101,000 in the 25-54 demo. Notably, FOX & Friends Weekend (Sundays, 6-10 AM/ET) outdrew CNN and MSNBC every hour on Sunday in total viewers and the 25-54 demo during the month, earning 1.1 million viewers and 143,000 with A25-54. CNN also debuted The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper in April which averaged just 562,000 viewers.
APRIL 2023 VS. APRIL 2022 NIELSEN NUMBERS (seven day week, L+SD):
TOTAL DAY
FNC: 1,293,000 total viewers – down 15% (161,000 in 25-54 – down 35%)
CNN: 480,000 total viewers – down 18% (101,000 in 25-54 – down 23%)
MSNBC: 820,000 total viewers – up 23% (102,000 in 25-54 – up 36%)
PRIMETIME
FNC: 2,072,000 total viewers – down 12% (240,000 in 25-54- down 34%)
CNN: 587,000 total viewers – down 16% (135,000 in 25-54 – down 20%)
MSNBC: 1,320,000 total viewers – up 18% (149,000 in 25-54 – up 20%)
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service and has been the number one network in basic cable for the last six years and the most-watched television news channel for more than 21 consecutive years, currently attracting more than 50% of the cable news viewing audience according to Nielsen Media Research. Notably, Nielsen/MRI Fusion has consistently shown FNC to be the network of choice for more Democrat and Independent viewers, with the most politically diverse audience in cable news. Additionally, a 2021 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index report stated FOX News leads the news industry in both brand loyalty, engagement, and expectations while a 2022 Brand Keys poll showed FNC dominating morning and evening news in customer loyalty engagement. Owned by Fox Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 80 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top 15 programs in the genre.
