In May, Fox News Lost Nearly One-Third Of Its Primetime Audience

In May 2023 Fox News ratings felt the impact of the suddenly departed Tucker Carlson, whose last telecast was April 21. For May, Fox News averaged 1.42 million viewers in primetime, a 32% decline from April, when the network averaged 2.08 million viewers. (All ratings are based on live + same day from Nielsen.) In May, Fox News ranked third in primetime viewership behind TNT and ESPN, both had benefited from their month-long coverage of the NBA postseason.

For the total day, in May, Fox News had an average audience of 1.09 million viewers, compared to 1.29 million in April, a fall-off of 16%. Despite the audience decline, May 2023 marked the 27^th straight month Fox News has been the top-rated cable news network in daypart.

In April, Tucker Carlson Tonight had been the top rated on cable news averaging 3.06 million viewers. (Carlson’s program aired in the first three weeks of the month.) For the time being, Fox has replaced Carlson’s 8 p.m. show with Fox News Tonight and rotating hosts. In May, the program averaged 1.52 million viewers. Despite a monthly time period decline of 50%, Fox News Tonight ranked seventh among cable programs.

In the wake of Carlson’s dismissal, in May, other top-rated Fox News shows reported month-over-month, double-digit declines in audience. All four, however, still rank as the highest rated programs on cable television.

· In April, The Five (M-F 5-6 p.m., ET), ranked second in total viewers behind Tucker Carlson Tonight with an average audience of 3.03 million viewers. In May, The Five averaged 2.61 million viewers, while a decline of 14%, it was the top-rated cable program of the month.

· In April, Special Report with Bret Baier (M-F 6-7 p.m., ET), averaged 2.21 million viewers. The following month, the program averaged 1.81 million viewers, a loss of 18%.

· In April, Jesse Watters Primetime, the one-time lead-in to Carlson (M-F 7-8 p.m., ET), averaged 2.78 million viewers. In May, the program averaged 2.14 million viewers, a fall-off of 23%.

· In April, Hannity, the one-time lead-out to Carlson (M-F 9-10 p.m., ET), averaged 2.61 million viewers. In May the program averaged 1.91 million viewers, a fall-off of 27%.

MSNBC: For May, MSNBC ranked fourth among all cable networks (behind TNT, ESPN and Fox News), with an average primetime audience of 1.16 million viewers. The audience delivery in May was a 12% fall-off from April’s average audience of 1.32 million. In total day, MSNBC in May averaged 736,000 viewers, again ranking fourth among cable networks. For April, MSNBC’s total audience delivery had been 820,000. As a result, month-over-month MSNBC’s total day audience fell by 10%.

MSNBC’s top-rated show in May was The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell with an average audience of 1.49 million viewers. Rachel Maddow’s one-hour Monday night 9 p.m. (ET) program averaged 2.31 million viewers.

CNN: Adweek reported, in May 2023, CNN averaged 494,000 viewers in primetime, ranking #14 among cable networks. For total day, CNN was the fifth most watched cable network, averaging 416,000 total viewers. In April, CNN (which dismissed early morning co-host Don Lemon on April 21), averaged 587,000 viewers in primetime and 480,000 in total day. Hence, month-over-month, the average audience for CNN in primetime and total day dropped by 16% and 13%, respectively. For May, Anderson Cooper 360 was CNN’s most-watched program, with an average audience of 646,000.

The ratings highlight for CNN came on May 10 with a live “town hall” featuring Caitlan Collins interviewing Donald Trump. The “special” averaged over 3.3 million viewers. In the aftermath of the “Town Hall” and ensuing backlash, the ratings lowlight for the month came just two days later. On May 12, CNN’s total three-hour primetime block averaged only 335,000 viewers, falling below Newsmax.

Newsmax: In May, Newsmax reported a sharp increase in viewing. For the month, the cable network averaged 298,000 viewers in prime time, ranking #25 among cable networks. In total day, the audience delivery averaged 181,000 ranking #24. By comparison, in April Newsmax had averaged 177,000 viewers in primetime (ranking #43) and 121,000 total day viewers (ranking #42).

As a result, month-over-month Newsmax average audience increased 68% in primetime and 50% in total day. With Carlson’s departure, Newsmax, in the M-F 8-9 p.m. (ET) time period, averaged 470,000 viewers in May, an increase of 81% from April. The time period is hosted by Eric Bolling, a former Fox personality.