Fox News Dominates Cable News Landscape in Q2 2025
In the second quarter of 2025, Americans seemed to turn to Fox News Channel for their information and analysis during a period marked by significant disruptions. Interestingly, Fox outperformed its cable news rivals, eclipsing ABC and NBC in viewer numbers and surpassing CBS in both viewership and demographics come June.
Recent news regarding the U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facility caught immense attention, making Fox News the go-to channel across all traditional networks. During this busy quarter, Fox not only led in ratings but also outshined competitors during events like the Army’s 250th birthday parade.
Fox News Digital Surpasses YouTube Metrics
In May, Fox News Digital notably outperformed rival platforms like YouTube according to key measures. Throughout the quarter, the channel maintained an average viewer count of 1.6 million, firmly establishing itself as the leader among basic cable options. For context, MSNBC averaged 596,000 viewers, while CNN lagged behind with only 406,000.
The primetime lineup was particularly impressive, with Fox averaging about 2.6 million viewers, beating TNT’s 1.7 million and MSNBC’s 1 million. CNN’s primetime performance was noticeably weaker, finishing outside the top five with an average of 538,000 viewers.
This was the sixth consecutive quarter where Fox News claimed the top spot for both daytime and primetime viewers, securing a stronghold, particularly among the pivotal 25-54 age demographic. Fox captured an impressive 202,000 viewers in this group, well ahead of CNN’s 71,000 and MSNBC’s 57,000.
Fox’s Growth and Strategic Moves
According to the COO of Fox Corporation, the network is experiencing sustainable growth, which has been notably robust during the Trump administration. In primetime, the average demographic viewer count reached 304,000 for Fox, in contrast to CNN’s 105,000 and MSNBC’s 91,000. The quarter also marked the second highest viewership in the network’s history among total weekday viewers, with Fox owning over half of the cable news audience—62% during the day and 63% during prime time.
Programs like “The Five” led the pack with a remarkable average viewership of 3.9 million, a record for any non-news program, making history over the past 15 quarters. “Jesse Watters Primetime” followed closely with 3.4 million viewers, while “Special Report with Bret Baier” averaged 3 million viewers, spotlighting a highly publicized interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that reached an estimated audience of 30 million across various platforms.
Industry Dynamics: CNN’s Challenges
Meanwhile, CNN appears to be facing challenges ahead, as there are reports suggesting Warner Bros. Discovery may be considering network spinoffs. This comes at a time when Fox’s dominance seems unshakable, outperforming its competitors on weekends as well, with “The Big Weekend Show” ranking as the most-watched Saturday program and Maria Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures” leading on Sundays.
With an impressive average of 1.8 million viewers in June alone—compared to just 593,000 for MSNBC and 446,000 for CNN—Fox News continued its winning streak, recording 53 consecutive months at the top in both total viewers and primetime ratings. The network averaged 2.8 million primetime viewers, leaving MSNBC and CNN far behind.
In summary, Fox News remains a powerful player in the cable news landscape, outperforming key competitors and continuing to resonate with its audience across various demographics as of the second quarter of 2025.
