Fox News Channel is on fire! They've left the competition in the dust, dominating primetime viewership throughout November. But here's where it gets controversial... Fox News is not just beating the broadcast networks; they're outperforming their cable news rivals by a landslide.
Since the beginning of 2025, Fox News has averaged an impressive 3.2 million weekday primetime viewers, securing the second spot as the highest-rated network across all television. And this is the part most people miss: they're consistently outperforming both CBS and NBC.
During November, Fox News Channel easily surpassed CNN and the newly rebranded MS NOW, which was formerly MSNBC. Fox News averaged a solid 1.4 million total day viewers, while MS NOW and CNN lagged behind with 600,000 and 430,000 viewers, respectively. CNN's performance was particularly dismal, marking their worst November in this category since 2013.
In the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., Fox News maintained its lead with over 2 million total viewers. MS NOW, on the other hand, settled for a mere 945,000 viewers, resulting in their worst November performance since 2015. CNN's primetime audience averaged a meager 556,000, their weakest showing in this category since 1997.
Fox News dominated the cable news share, claiming 57% in total day and 58% in primetime. When it comes to the coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, Fox News averaged an impressive 123,000 total day viewers, compared to CNN's 70,000 and MS NOW's paltry 55,000. The same trend continued during primetime, with Fox News averaging 184,000 demo viewers, significantly outpacing CNN's 100,000 and MS NOW's 88,000.
The Five, featuring Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Jessica Tarlov, and Harold Ford Jr., emerged as the most-watched cable news show at any time, attracting an average of 3.6 million total viewers and 293,000 in the coveted demo. Jesse Watters Primetime and Gutfeld! also led the pack in their respective primetime slots, outperforming all other cable news and broadcast late-night competitors.
Hannity and The Ingraham Angle maintained their dominance at 9 p.m. ET, with 2.4 million and 2.5 million viewers, respectively. Laura Ingraham continues her reign as the highest-rated woman in cable news. FOX News @ Night with Trace Gallagher also topped its timeslot, attracting 1.4 million viewers.
Special Report with Bret Baier averaged 2.7 million viewers and dominated its timeslot among cable news offerings. Baier's newscast outdrew CBS Evening News in 13 top markets across the country, including major cities like Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. It also beat ABC's World News Tonight in five markets, showcasing Fox News' growing competitiveness with broadcast networks.
FOX & Friends finished November as the top cable news program in the mornings, leading CBS Mornings in 23 major markets, ABC's Good Morning America in 17 markets, and NBC's Today in five markets. Fox News' daytime lineup, including America's Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, The Faulkner Focus, Outnumbered, America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith, The Story with Martha MacCallum, and The Will Cain Show, all had strong months, further solidifying Fox News' dominance.
Fox News' success extended to the weekends as well, with programs like Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany, Sunday Morning Futures, The Sunday Briefing, FOX & Friends Weekend, Life, Liberty & Levin, My View with Lara Trump, Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy, The Big Weekend Show, and One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, all contributing to Fox News' weekend dominance.
So, what do you think? Is Fox News' success a sign of their superior programming, or is there something else at play? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
