Americans continue to choose Fox News Channel as network dominates May, tops ABC during weekday primetime
Americans continued to rely on Fox News Channel for information and analysis during May, as the network outdrew broadcast network ABC in weekday primetime and dominated other cable news outlets across the board.
Fox News averaged 2.9 million weekday primetime viewers, making it the fourth highest-rated network in all of television while topping ABC's 2.7 million.
Fox News averaged 1.6 million total day viewers compared to 545,000 for MSNBC and 353,000 for CNN. Fox News' total day viewers grew 21% since May 2024 while MSNBC was down 33% and CNN shed 24% of its audience.
During primetime, Fox News averaged around 2.5 million total viewers compared to 877,000 for MSNBC and only 426,000 for CNN.
Fox News also dominated among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, averaging 180,000 total day viewers, while CNN managed only 59,000 and MSNBC settled for a dismal average of 49,000.
It was similar during primetime, as Fox News averaged 262,000 viewers from the key demo from 8-11 p.m. to dominate cable news. CNN averaged 76,000 demo viewers during primetime and MSNBC finished with an average of only 73,000.
Fox News piled up nearly 65% of the cable news share among viewers across both total day and primetime, completely dominating CNN and MSNBC which are both shed viewers in all categories compared to 2024. Fox News saw a 23% year-over-year increase among total viewership and 32% in the key demo.
CNN and MSNBC marked historic lows during May as Fox News thrived. CNN had its second-worst month ever in the demo across both total day and primetime, while MSNBC had its second-worst May in history among both total day and primetime in the demo.
Along the way, Fox News swept cable news among total day and primetime viewership in both total viewers and the critical demo for the 51st straight month.
Fox News has now aired the 1,100 highest-rated cable news telecasts since Election Day and the top 135 cable news telecasts in the month of May.
FNC's number one show "The Five," secured a staggering 3.8 million viewers and 368,000 in 25-54 demo, leading all of cable news across the board.
The Fox News programs "Jesse Watters Primetime," "Gutfeld!," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "Hannity," "The Ingraham Angle," "The Will Cain Show," "Outnumbered" and "The Faulkner Focus" rounded out the top ten most-watched cable news programs as CNN and MSNBC offerings were shut out.
"FOX & Friends" averaged 1.4 million viewers to remain the most-watched cable news program in the mornings, while topping CNN and MSNBC combined.
"America's Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith" and Martha MacCallum's "The Story" also had strong numbers this month as Fox News offerings dominated cable news during the daytime.
Meanwhile, CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" averaged only 525,000 total viewers for its worst month since August 2015 despite the namesake host's heavily promoted book tour.
On the weekend, Fox News topped both CNN and MSNBC during every hour of the day among both total and demo viewers as "My View with Lara Trump" averaged over 1.4 million viewers to finish as the No. 1 show on Saturday and "Sunday Morning Futures" earned the Sunday crown with 1.7 million.
More Democrats, Independents and Republicans tuned in to FNC over any other cable network across total day, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion.
Ratings information courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.
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I had an interesting conversation a couple of weeks ago with another reporter, who brought up a really interesting question: Is there any position in sports where a single player can be more impactful than pitchers in softball? I think the answer is no. Even without Nijaree Canady's offense, her ability to impact a game is astonishing. Many people argue that quarterbacks are the "most important position" in sports but even with a great QB, teams need WRs who can catch the ball and score touchdowns. When Canady is throwing 70-plus into the zone, you don't need much from your catcher. Her individual ability to stop the other team from scoring -- or even being in position to score -- is crazy. That was such a wild play by freshman Hailey Toney on a hard-hit ball by Ole Miss' Aliyah Binford to keep Nijaree Canady's (whispers) perfect game intact. Toney bounced the ball up in the air off her glove, caught it and threw it to first in time to get Binford out. Some strong plays from the Red Raiders' left side of the infield so far tonight. That was a pretty down spin pitch from Aliyah Binford to strike out Hailey Toney looking. As Jessica Mendoza and Michelle Smith like to say on the broadcasts, she really "pulled the string" on that one and totally froze Toney in the batter's box. We're still hitless in this one, folks ... Oregon was the No. 16 seed for the NCAA Tournament: Coach: Melyssa Lombardi Record: 53-8, 19-3 in the Big Ten Players to watch: Kedre Luschar, .444 average, 7, 61 RBIs Kai Luschar, .421, 24 RBIs, 59 SB Rylee McCoy, .399, 19 HR, 58 RBIs Paige Sinicki, .374, 8 HR, 50 RBIs, 30 SB Elise Sokolsky, 17-4, 2.00 ERA, 134 K Lyndsey Grein, 29-2, 2.08 ERA, 222 K Seeing lots of grounders from this Texas Tech offense so far the first time through the order. Against a drop/change pitcher like Aliyah Binford, it's vital for hitters to over-emphasize getting under the ball. We'll see if they can make the adjustment this second time through. B3 - Ole Miss 0, Texas Tech 0 NiJaree Canady has worked three innings without allowing a baserunner, and she has four strikeouts in the nine batters she has faced. That was a nice snag by Rebels third baseman Ashton Landsell, and she leads off the top of the third. So far, this one has gone by quickly in OKC and it already feels like it's getting late in the game, somehow. But when it's a pitchers duel, that's just how it goes. T3 - Ole Miss 0, Texas Tech 0 Still no hits for either team. Texas Tech has had a couple of runners via walks, but it hasn't been able to do anything with them. Headed to the third. Let's see some offense! For as much praise as Nijaree Canady gets in the circle, her offense is no joke. The fact that she also leads this Red Raiders team in homers with 11 this season is just remarkable. I can't imagine how crazy some fans would go if she hit one out at Devon Park today. Aliyah Binford sits down the Red Raiders after hitting Alexa Langeliers with a pitch, stranding her at first. While Nijaree Canady is definitely the big name in this pitching matchup, Binford has put together a strong season in the SEC, with a 3.58 ERA, an 11-3 record and an 80-50 strikeout-to-walk ratio. T2 - Ole Miss 0, Texas Tech 0 Ole Miss went down in order with three strikeouts. Texas Tech got a runner on via walk, but there's nothing going for the Red Raiders. And we're going to the second inning scoreless. Imagn Images OK here's a fun stat to keep an eye on: Entering the WCWS, Karlyn Pickens. had 280 strikeouts this season, and NiJaree Canady had 279. Pickens had eight earlier today, bringing her season total to 288. Don't be surprised if Canady passes her by the end of this game. Nijaree Canady makes it look SO easy. Her 56 mph changeup paired with a rise up, and it is a wicked combo. Three up, three down, all via strikeouts. And we have our first NiJa stomp of the night. She is mesmerizing to watch. $1 million (very) well spent. For as much hype as Tennessee's Karlyn Pickens gets for the speed on the radar gun, NiJaree Canady just hit 75 mph and struck out Ole Miss' Jaden Pone on a 74 mph rise ball. Absolutely nasty stuff. The weather delay is done, and Nijaree Canady is in the circle. Let's go. According to the broadcast, this is the first meeting between Texas Tech and Ole Miss since 2001. In that matchup, the Rebels took down the Red Raiders, 1-0.
