Fox News viewership dominates competition in May, CNN had worst month since 1991 in key demographic

Fox News Channel ended May as the highest-rated cable news network as CNN hit a new all-time low during the month of former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York.

Fox News swept CNN and MSNBC in every category and saw double-digit audience increases over last year, while the competition managed to lose a younger audience despite the intense news cycle .

Fox News averaged 1.3 million total viewers per day to finish as the No. 1 network across all of cable in May. MSNBC averaged 816,000 total viewers and CNN settled for 468,000, their combined average viewership nowhere near reaching Fox News.

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Fox News averaged more than two million viewers in prime time, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, compared to 1.2 million for MSNBC and just 518,000 for CNN.

Although CNN’s total audience is well below that of its competitors, the channel’s prime-time lineup, consisting of “Anderson Cooper 360,” “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” and “CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip “, is particularly struggling in the adult demographic, coveted by advertisers. 25-54.

CNN averaged just 96,000 nightly demo viewers in May, finishing behind 18 other basic cable options in the key demo, with smaller audiences than A&E, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, HGTV, Food Network and Well done. It was CNN’s smallest primetime audience in the key demo since 1991.

By comparison, the Fox News programs “Jesse Watters Primetime,” “Hannity” and “Gutfeld!” averaged 199,000 viewers for the demo, surpassing CNN’s audience of more than 100,000 people ages 25 to 54. Fox News ended with an increase of +37% compared to last year while CNN lost 14% of its audience over the same period.

Along the way, Fox News carried nearly every cable news show in the top 100, occupying the top 97 shows in the demo and 94 shows among total viewers. Not a single CNN program has hacked into either of these lists.

“The Five” averaged 3.1 million viewers to finish May as the most-watched cable news program.

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“Jesse Watters Primetime,” “Hannity,” “Gutfeld!,” “The Ingraham Angle,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” and “Outnumbered” all also beat out anything MSNBC or CNN had to offer since Fox News was home to the seven most-watched cable news programs.

“Gutfeld!” ” led the way among key demos, averaging 278,000 viewers in the critical category as 13 Fox News programs topped anything airing on MSNBC or CNN.

“FOX & Friends First”, “FOX & Friends”, “America’s Newsroom” with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, “The Faulkner Focus”, “Outnumbered”, “The Story with Martha MacCallum”, “Your World with Neil Cavuto”, and “FOX News @ Night” with anchor Trace Gallagher also had strong months to help Fox News stay atop the cable news landscape.

Fox News’ dominance continued on weekends in May as the network bested CNN and MSNBC in total day and prime time on Saturdays and Sundays, outpacing the competition every weekend hour among the total number of viewers.

“Life, Liberty & Levin” was Saturday’s most-watched show with 1.4 million viewers, while “Sunday Morning Futures” averaged 1.4 million viewers to take the Sunday crown.

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All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.