Fox News Hits 85 Consecutive Quarters As Highest-Rated Cable News Network In Prime Time

Fox News Channel finished the first quarter of 2023 in first place, beating both its cable news competition and every other network in basic cable—and hitting the 85th consecutive quarter at #1 in prime time. In prime, Fox drew an average total audience of 2.088 million viewers, well ahead of MSNBC (1.110 million viewers) and CNN (568,000 viewers). All the networks saw year-over-year declines in prime, with CNN down the most—34%. Fox News dropped 18%, and MSNBC was down 8%.

Among viewers 25-54, the key demographic most valued by advertisers, Fox was number one in prime with an average audience of 259,000 viewers (down 40% from one year ago), followed by CNN (124,000 viewers, down 47%) and MSNBC (111,000 viewers, down 26%).

For total day ratings, Fox News finished first with an average audience of 1.364 million viewers (down 15%), followed by MSNBC (703,000 viewers, down 1%) and CNN (478,000 viewers, down 27%). In the key demo, Fox News was first with 174,000 viewers (down 38%), followed by CNN (94,000 viewers, down 40%) and MSNBC (78,000 viewers, down 9%).

Fox News Channel’s The Five took the title as the most-watched show in all of cable news for the quarter, with an average total audience of 3.256 million viewers, followed by Tucker Carlson Tonight (3.246 million viewers), Jesse Watters Primetime (2.781 million viewers), Hannity (2.585 million viewers) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.349 million viewers)—all airing on Fox.

Fox News also swept the top five in the key demo, with Tucker Carlson Tonight first with an average audience of 443,000 viewers, followed by The Five (357,000 viewers), Hannity (317,000 viewers), Jesse Watters Primetime (304,000 viewers) and Gutfeld! (301,000 viewers).

For the month of March, Tucker Carlson Tonight was the highest-rated show in cable news, with an average audience of 3.251 million viewers, followed by The Five (3.058 million viewers), Jesse Watters Primetime (2.670 million viewers), Hannity (2.505 million viewers) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.2 million viewers)—all airing on Fox News.

MSNBC’s highest-rated show was The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, which placed 14th overall with 1.386 million viewers, and the recently-launched Alex Wagner Tonight landed in 18th place with an average audience of 1.276 million viewers. CNN’s top-rated show for the quarter was Anderson Cooper 360, which took 26th place overall with an average total audience of 703,000 viewers.