FOX News’ Special Programming Outpaces NBC, ABC and Cable News During Debate Simulcast, Ranks Number One in all of Television for Surrounding Coverage
NEW YORK – October 2, 2024 – FOX News Media’s simulcast of the CBS vice presidential debate between Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance delivered 10.7 million viewers, outpacing linear television, digital and streaming last night, averaging 10,684,000 viewers and 2,487,000 in the A25-54 demographic on FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX Network, FOXNews.com and FOX Nation, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. FOX News Media’s simulcast of the debate also had the largest share of the event’s audience in television.
During the debate from 9-10:45 PM/ET, FNC topped broadcast networks ABC and NBC as well as all cable networks with nearly 8 million viewers and 1.6 million in A25-54. FBN delivered 276,000 and 70,000 in A25-54 and FOX Network had an audience of 2.5 million viewers and 848,000 in the A25-54 demographic. FNC’s special FOX News Democracy 2024 pre-debate coverage with anchors Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity from 8:20-9 PM/ET was the highest-rated in all of television with 4.9 million viewers and 916,000 in A25-54.
FNC’s special coverage of the debate from 8 PM – 1 AM/ET garnered cable news’ highest ratings with 5.4 million viewers and 1,068,000 in A25-54. At 8 PM/ET, Jesse Watters Primetime’s delivered an audience of 4.7 million in viewers and 863,000 in A25-54. Following the debate, Hannity’s live program from the spin room at 11 PM in New York was the most-watched in television with 4.4 million viewers and 884,000 in A25-54. At 12 AM/ET, FOX News @ Night with Trace Gallagher drew an audience of 2.1 million viewers and 486,000 in A25-54, sweeping the cable news competition across the board.
FOX News Media’s digital properties, according to Adobe Analytics, YouTube Analytics, TikTok and Meta, delivered a strong day of engagement across key performance indicators. FOX News Digital saw 1.8 million livestream views between 9-11 PM/ET and FOX News Go’s unique viewing devices were up 202% compared to the average weekday this year and its media initiates were up 175% vs. the average weekday in 2024.
On social media, FOX News Media properties were number one in total social engagement among the news competitive set. The platforms garnered 1.4 million social interactions across Facebook, X and Instagram, according to Emplifi.
DATA FROM NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH
9-10:45PM/ET
FOX News Media & FOX; 10,684,000 P2+, 2,487,000 A25-54.
FNC: 7,931,000 P2+; 1,569,000 A25-54
FBN: 276,000 P2+; 70,000 A25-54.
FOX: 2,477,000 P2+; 848,000 A25-54.
CNN: 3,367,000 P2+; 1,129,000 A25-54
MSNBC: 4,880,000 P2+; 936,000 A25-54
NBC: 5,674,000 P2+; 1,903,000 A25-54
ABC: 6,352,000 P2+; 1,705,000 A25-54
CBS: 9,571,000 P2+; 2,759,000 A25-54
9-11 PM/ET
FNC: 7,872,000 P2+; 1,553,000 A25-54
CNN: 3,360,000 P2+; 1,117,000 A25-54
MSNBC: 4,892,000 P2+; 931,000 A25-54
7-11PM/ET
FNC: 5,831,000 P2+; 1,093,000 A25-54
CNN: 2,317,000 P2+; 716,000 A25-54
MSNBC: 3,752,000 P2+; 637,000 A25-54
8-11PM/ET
FNC: 6,826,000 P2+; 1,323,000 A25-54
CNN: 2,773,000 P2+; 885,000 A25-54
MSNBC: 4,294,000 P2+; 765,000 A25-54
8:15-9PM/ET
FNC: 4,884,000 P2+; 916,000 A25-54
CNN: 1,686,000 P2+; 448,000 A25-54
MSNBC: 3,197,000 P2+; 455,000 A25-54
FOX News Media operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio, FOX News Books, the direct-to-consumer streaming services FOX Nation and FOX News International and the free ad-supported television service FOX Weather. Currently the number one network in all of cable, FNC has also been the most watched television news channel for 22 consecutive years, while FBN is the top business channel on cable. Owned by Fox Corporation, FOX News Media reaches nearly 200 million people each month.
