Fox News Crushes Ratings as CNN and MSNBC Hit Record Lows

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In the third quarter of 2025, Fox News significantly outperformed its rivals, leading in both cable news and business news ratings. Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC experienced their lowest viewership numbers on record.

As reported by Nielsen through Fox News press releases, both Fox News Channel (FNC) and Fox Business Network (FBN) led their competitors in television ratings and significantly outperformed them online, especially with high viewership on YouTube.

Fox Business Beats CNBC Across the Board

Fox Business Network (FBN) once again topped CNBC in every major category.

  • Business Day (9:30 AM–5 PM): FBN averaged 218,000 viewers to CNBC’s 153,000, a 42% lead.
  • Market Hours (9 AM–4 PM): FBN averaged 215,000 viewers, a 37% lead over CNBC’s 157,000.
  • Total Day: FBN had 132,000 viewers, 36% higher than CNBC’s 97,000.

I’m really impressed with how consistently well Varney & Co. and Kudlow are doing – they’ve been leading in business news for an amazing 14 quarters in a row! And it’s fantastic to see The Big Money Show finally beat CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Show/The Exchange – a well-deserved victory! Plus, Maria Bartiromo’s Mornings with Maria continues to dominate, achieving its 10th win in a row against Squawk Box.

Recently, CNBC experienced its weakest quarterly performance in decades, with viewership numbers falling to levels not observed since the early 1990s. This represents a significant decline in ratings for the network.

Fox News Destroys CNN and MSNBC

Fox News Channel outperformed not only CNN and MSNBC, but also ABC and CBS during primetime viewing hours. During the third quarter of 2025, Fox averaged 2.5 million primetime viewers, while CNN averaged 538,000 (a decrease of 42%) and MSNBC reached 802,000 (down 43%). Looking at the important 25-54 age demographic, Fox averaged 243,000 viewers. CNN’s numbers dropped to 87,000 (down 58%) and MSNBC fell to 66,000 (down 64%)-both representing record lows.

Some highlights:

  • The Five remained the most-watched show in cable news with 3.7 million viewers.
  • Jesse Watters Primetime and Hannity both cleared 3 million viewers.
  • Gutfeld! beat every late-night show, including Colbert, Kimmel, and Fallon.

CNN experienced its least-watched quarter ever among key demographics, and MSNBC recorded its lowest viewership numbers in that same group since the 1990s. This indicates a significant drop in audience engagement for both networks.

Fox News Rules Digital with YouTube

It wasn’t limited to television. Fox also dominated online platforms. Fox News finished the quarter with 1.1 billion views on YouTube, surpassing MSNBC (848 million) and CNN (627 million). This total is greater than the combined viewership of NBC, ABC, and CBS. Furthermore, Fox led in September with 408 million views, almost twice the 232 million views earned by CNN.

Fox achieved its most successful quarter to date on social media, garnering more than 500 million interactions across platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X.

The Big Picture

The data clearly indicates that Fox News is increasing its lead, while CNN and MSNBC are both experiencing declines. Fox News performed exceptionally well across television, financial news, and online platforms. In contrast, its competitors suffered double-digit percentage drops in viewership and hit all-time lows. See the data here. This is a significant shift in the media landscape. Further analysis is needed to understand the long-term implications.

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2025-10-02 21:32