Fox News Channel dominated November, posting one of its most-watched months in network history, as have MSNBC and CNN hemorrhaged viewers since Election Day.
November saw the momentous presidential election between President-elect Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with weeks of critical news tied to Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Along the way, Americans relied on Fox News Channel for information and analysis, while MSNBC and CNN have struggled to maintain an audience since Trump’s decisive victory. Fox News finished the month with a 62% share of the cable news audience.
Fox News averaged nearly two million total day viewers during the month, while no other cable network even surpassed the one-million benchmark. ESPN finished second with 741,000 average viewers. It was Fox News’ sixth most-watched month in history and the second-best November of all time.
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MSNBC averaged 720,000 total day viewers and CNN settled for 482,000 as the liberal networks failed to outdraw Fox News combined despite the historic election.
It was much of the same during primetime, when Fox News Channel averaged a staggering 3.2 million viewers to crush all competition.
ESPN finished second with two million average viewers from 8-11 p.m. ET. MSNBC averaged 1.1 million and CNN averaged 725,000 as they failed to beat Fox News combined in that category, too.
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Fox News also dominated cable news among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 282,000 total day viewers compared to 108,000 for CNN and only 91,000 for MSNBC.
During primetime, Fox News averaged 476,000 viewers in the demo that pays the bills, compared to 196,000 for CNN and 161,000 for MSNBC.
On Election Day, FOX News Media’s primetime coverage of election night across Fox News Channel, FOX Network, FOX Business Network (FBN) and Fox News Digital topped all television networks with nearly 13.6 million viewers and 4.4 million in the key demo.
Fox News’ "Democracy 2024" primetime coverage co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum averaged nearly 10.8 million in total viewers and 3.3 million in the key demo. The following day, Fox News’ coverage of Harris concession speech was No. 1 in television, averaging nearly eight million viewers and 1.4 million in the demo.
November marked the 45th consecutive month that Fox News finished No. 1 with cable news among both primetime and total day in both viewers and the key demographic.
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"The Five," with Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro and rotating co-hosts Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., averaged 4.4 million total viewers and 510,000 in the critical demo to lead all of cable news for the month.
"The Ingraham Angle," "Jesse Watters Primetime" and "Hannity" all dominated their timeslots and "Gutfeld!" had its best month since launch. "Special Report with Bret Baier," "FOX & Friends FIRST," "FOX & Friends," "America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered," "America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith," "FOX News @ Night" and "Your World with Neil Cavuto" all also had stellar months to help Fox News crush cable news competition.
"Life, Liberty & Levin," averaged 1.8 million viewers to finish as the No. 1 program on Saturdays, while "Sunday Morning Futures" took the Sunday crown with 1.9 million average viewers.
While Fox News Channel swept CNN and MSNBC combined across the board for the entire month, the liberal networks have particularly struggled since Election Day.
MSNBC is down 42% among total viewers, down 52% during primetime and lost a shocking 57% of its primetime audience among the key demo compared to 2024 averages since Harris’ loss. CNN has shed 30% of its total viewers and dropped 39% during primetime over the same time period.
Fox News has a commanding 73% share of cable news viewers during primetime and a 69% percent share of total viewers since Election Day. Since Election Night, Fox News has also topped ABC, CBS, NBC and all other cable networks.
A variety of MSNBC shows, including "Jose-Diaz Balart Reports," "The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle," "Ana Cabrera Reports," "Chris Jansing Reports," "Katy Tur Reports" and "The Reidout" have hit all-time lows since Election Day.
MSNBC’s issues extend far beyond its ongoing struggles to draw an audience.
MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski irked both liberal viewers and colleagues after they admitted they met face-to-face with Trump on the heels of the election after years of insisting he was a "fascist" and an overall threat to democracy.
Parent company Comcast also announced it would spin off its cable assets, including MSNBC, into a separate company over the next year, leaving MSNBC staffers unsure about the fate of shared resources with NBC News. In addition, FEC filings revealed that the Harris campaign gave two $250,000 donations to MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton’s nonprofit organization in September and October right before he sat down with the Democratic nominee for a friendly interview.
All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.
