CNN, MS NOW & Fox News Ratings Show Huge Swings: Who’s on Top & Who’s Lagging Behind?
What To Know
- Fox News led cable news ratings in 2025, increasing total viewership in both primetime and total day compared to 2024, despite slight declines in the key 25-54 demo.
- CNN and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) experienced significant double-digit declines in both total viewers and the 25-54 demo across primetime and total day.
- Fox News dominated the list of most-watched cable news programs, with 14 of the top 15 shows, while MS NOW’s The Rachel Maddow Show was the only non-Fox program to make the list.
The cable news ratings for 2025 are in, and it was another strong year for Fox News, which posted gains in total viewers across primetime and total day compared to 2024.
On the other end, CNN and the newly branded MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) both saw declines compared to last year, falling by double-digits in total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demo in primetime and total day.
Fox News also experienced declines in the key 25-54 demo, though not to the extent of its rival networks, posting single-digit drops.
According to AdWeek, citing Nielsen big data + panel for 2025, Fox News averaged 2.652 million total viewers (up 11 per cent on last year) during primetime. In the demo, the network averaged 278,000 viewers, down five percent year-over-year.
It should be noted that Nielsen changed its rating methodology last year, so the way numbers are measured compared to 2024 could be skewed.
In total day, Fox News averaged 1.691 million total viewers (up 16 per cent compared to 2024) and 180,000 in the key demo (down 3 per cent).
Fox News topped the charts for total primetime viewers across all cable networks and placed third in the demo. It also held the top spot for total viewers across total day and ranked second in the demo.
MS NOW (MSNBC until November 2025) averaged 915,000 total viewers (down 15 per cent on 2024) and 80,000 demo viewers (down 40 per cent on last year) in primetime. During total day, MS NOW averaged 551,000 total viewers (down 30 per cent) and 48,000 demo viewers (down 43 per cent).
Overall, MS NOW ranked third in total primetime viewers across all basic cable networks and dropped from ninth to 19th in the demo. In total day, the network dropped from No. 3 to No. 2 in total viewers and from eighth to 13th in the demo.
Meanwhile, CNN averaged 573,000 total viewers (down 16 per cent) and 102,000 demo viewers (down 31 per cent) in primetime. Across total day, it had 432,000 total viewers (down 10 per cent) and 70,000 demo viewers (down 23 per cent).
CNN ranked seventh among total viewers across all basic cable networks for 2025 and tenth (down from sixth) in the demo. For total day, the network remained in fourth place for total viewers and dropped from sixth to seventh in the demo chart.
As for programming, Fox News made up 14 of the 15 spots of the most-watched cable shows of the year. The Five took the top spot with 4.046 million viewers and 377,000 demo viewers.
The only non-Fox News show in the Top 15 was MS NOW’s The Rachel Maddow Show, which placed at No. 13 with 1.864 million viewers and No. 14 in the demo chart with 172,000 viewers.
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