The Patriot Post® · Fox News Channel Is as Popular as Ever

Once again, claims and predictions of Fox News Channel’s impending demise have proven mere wishful thinking, as ratings show it is indeed still the most-watched cable news network. Recently released Nielsen ratings for the month of August show that FNC dominated the market with 94 of the month’s top 100 cable news telecasts. Furthermore, 13 of the top 14 news programs were on FNC.

Just how dominant has Fox News been? Well, according to the numbers, FNC bested CNN by over 200% in total prime-time viewers. Meanwhile, CNN saw its viewership numbers decline by another 39% after losing 70% already earlier this year. And MSNBC’s viewership continued its downward spiral, hitting lows not seen since 2017.

This past month was a particularly good month for FNC. The Associated Press reports: “In August, viewers watched FNC more than any other cable news channel helping the network capture averaging 4.1 million viewers and 809,000 with A25-54 during primetime on the days the Taliban took over Afghanistan and last Thursday when a suicide attack killed 13 U.S. service members. The network closed out the month as the number one network in all of weekday television in primetime, besting broadcast and all of cable in total viewers during the past 3 weeks, bolstered by wall-to-wall breaking news coverage surrounding Afghanistan and Hurricane Ida.”

Impressively, FNC’s late-night show “Gutfeld!” ended the month as the number one rated show for the 11:00 p.m. time slot in cable, and the AP says it even “outpaced ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! [and] NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in total viewers while topping Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and all other cable late night programs in both total viewers and the younger A25-54 demo.”

While FNC continues its long run leading the pack, it’s important to note that the total number of leftist news outlets continues to outnumber those on the Right. Newmax, FNC’s closest competitor on the Right, has seen its viewership numbers halved from its high in December 2020, when it averaged 300,000 viewers. It’s now down to roughly 114,000. In other words, Fox News might be winning the individual network battle — and it may lead the pack well into the future — but even combined with other conservative channels, it still doesn’t outweigh the influence of the Leftmedia.