'The Five' leads cable news for 20th straight quarter as Fox News outdraws CNN and MS NOW combined
Fox News Channel continued to dominate ahead of its 30th anniversary, finishing the third quarter of 2026 ahead of CBS among weekday primetime viewers while crushing all of cable.
Fox News averaged 2.4 million weekday primetime viewers to beat CBS for the quarter while continuing to lead the broadcast network year-to-date among weekday primetime viewers.
When it comes to cable, Fox News averaged 1.3 million total-day viewers to finish as the only network to crack the one-million viewer benchmark. MS NOW finished second with an average audience of 592,000 followed by ESPN, CNN and HGTV.
During primetime, Fox News averaged 2.1 million viewers compared to 1.1 million for second-place ESPN. MS NOW settled for 930,000 and CNN managed only 607,000 as Fox News outdrew them combined in both categories.
Along the way, Fox News commanded 56% of the audience in total day and 57% during primetime.
"The Five," with Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Emily Compagno, Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., averaged 3.1 million viewers to finish as the No. 1 show on cable news. It was the 20th consecutive quarter that "The Five" has been the highest-rated show in cable news.
"Jesse Watters Primetime," "Gutfeld!," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "Hannity" and "The Ingraham Angle" rounded out the top six as Fox News offerings nearly swept the top 14 cable news programs. Fox News is on pace for its highest-rated midterm election year in network history with total day viewership.
The only non-Fox News program to finish inside the top 14 was MS NOW’s "The Rachel Maddow Show," which only airs once per week. "Maddow" averaged 1.9 million viewers to finish seventh, but only aired 10 episodes the entire quarter compared to 59 for "The Five."
CNN’s most-watched show was "Newsnight," which averaged 686,000 viewers to finish No. 24 among cable news programs.
"America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered," "America Reports with Sandra Smith and John Roberts," Martha MacCallum’s "The Story" and "The Will Cain Show" all had strong quarters as Fox News’ daytime lineup added to the network’s overwhelming success.
"Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher" averaged 1.3 million viewers to lead its timeslot, and "Gutfeld!" beat all broadcast and late-night television, including ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and NBC’s "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon."
"FOX & Friends" remained the most-watched morning show in cable news throughout the quarter with 1.1 million viewers, beating "CBS Mornings" in 21 markets, including New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
"FOX News Saturday Night with Jimmy Failla," "The Big Weekend Show," "My View with Lara Trump," "Life, Liberty & Levin," "The Sunday Briefing," hosted by rotating anchors Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich, "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" and "One Nation with Brian Kilmeade" all thrived as Fox News continued to shine on weekends.
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"Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany" was the most-watched cable news show on Saturdays with 1.4 million viewers, while "Sunday Morning Futures" averaged 1.4 million viewers to take the Sunday title.
Fox News also led cable news in the quarter among the advertiser-coveted demo of adults age 25-54, averaging 120,000 total day demo viewers and 183,000 during primetime. "The Five" averaged 289,000 to finish as the No. 1 show in the critical category.
Data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.