Fox News Channel has outpaced its broadcast rivals in the third quarter of 2025, leading with a strong average of 3.3 million primetime viewers. This compares to 3.1 million for CBS and ABC, while NBC reached around 3 million. In the broader weekday primetime landscape, cable news networks like MSNBC attracted 1.2 million viewers and CNN pulled in 641,000, with ESPN averaging 2.1 million.
For the third quarter overall, Fox News averaged 1.6 million viewers, significantly ahead of MSNBC’s 492,000 and CNN’s 396,000. During primetime specifically, Fox News drew an audience of 2.5 million, while MSNBC managed 802,000 and CNN garnered 538,000.
The dominance of Fox News is notable, marking the 95th consecutive quarter in the top spot for cable news among primetime viewers. Interestingly, Fox News also averaged 159,000 viewers in the key demographic of adults aged 25-54, similar to MSNBC’s and CNN’s figures. CNN, in fact, recorded its lowest quarter ever, and MSNBC hit levels not seen since 1998.
The show “The Five” concluded the quarter with an impressive 3.7 million viewers, remaining the leading cable news program. Notably, it has held this position for 16 consecutive quarters, becoming the first non-primetime program to achieve such a milestone.
Programs like “Jesse Watters Primetime,” “Gutfeld!,” and “Hannity” also did well, consistently outpacing MSNBC and CNN. The competition between these networks is fierce, with CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” being the most popular show for that network, averaging 616,000 viewers, and still finishing quite low on the rankings.
Meanwhile, the “Fox & Friends” franchise has established itself as the top morning cable show. The programming lineup continues to receive praise for its viewer engagement, showcasing a commitment to premier coverage and content quality.
Fox News has announced some weekend additions aimed at strengthening its story coverage, with new shows like Kayleigh McEnany’s “Outnumbered” and Lara Trump’s “My View” both averaging 1.4 million viewers. “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo also clinched a strong viewership.
In demographic terms, “Fox News Live” ranked first on Saturdays with 126,000 viewers, while “The Sunday Briefing” attracted notable numbers averaging between 186,000 to 200,000 viewers. The top-rated “Hannity” program ended September as the leading cable show in its demo, averaging 391,000 viewers.
Fox News also reported strong engagement among Hispanic and Asian viewers, solidifying its position as a key player in the cable news landscape. The data cited for this performance comes from Nielsen Media Research.
