FOX News beats CBS, ABC in third quarter viewership

FOX News Channel surpassed CBS and ABC in weekday primetime viewership during the third quarter of 2025, according to Nielsen data released by the network.

Year to date, FOX News leads all television networks with 3.3 million weekday primetime viewers, ahead of CBS (3.1 million), ABC (3.1 million) and NBC (3 million). During the third quarter, FOX News drew 2.934 million viewers and 299,000 in the 25-54 demographic in primetime, surpassing ABC (2.751 million viewers) and CBS (2.097 million viewers).

The network reported its third highest third quarter ratings since launch and marked 95 consecutive quarters leading cable news in primetime viewership. FOX News commanded 64% of the cable news audience share in total day and 65% in weekday primetime.

Several FOX News programs outperformed broadcast competition. "The Five" at 5 PM averaged 3.7 million viewers, making it the most watched non-primetime program for 16 consecutive quarters. "Special Report with Bret Baier" garnered nearly 3 million viewers at 6 PM and beat "CBS Evening News" in the 25-54 demographic for the week of September 8th.

"Gutfeld!" averaged 2.9 million viewers during the 10 PM hour, outpacing all broadcast late-night programs including "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" (2.1 million viewers), "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (1.5 million viewers) and "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2 million viewers).

Competitors CNN and MSNBC experienced declines across key demographics. CNN recorded its lowest-rated quarter in network history with 61,000 total day viewers and 87,000 primetime viewers in the 25-54 demographic. MSNBC hit demo lows dating to 1997 in total day (41,000) and 1998 in primetime (66,000).

The data comes from Nielsen measurements based on live plus same-day viewing for the third quarter of 2025.

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