Fox News crushes CNN, MSNBC viewership during second quarter as ‘The Five’ makes history

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Fox News Channel finished the second quarter of 2022 as cable’s most-watched network among both total and primetime viewers as "The Five" continued its unprecedented success during the news-heavy quarter. 

Americans flocked to Fox News for the latest information and analysis during a tumultuous quarter of news that included Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surging gas prices, the ongoing January 6 hearings, the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.  

"The Five" became the first non-primetime program to finish as the most-watched cable news show for three consecutive quarters, as Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Jeanine Pirro and rotating hosts Geraldo Rivera, Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford, Jr. pulled in an average audience of 3.3 million viewers despite airing at 5 p.m. ET. 

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"The Five" became the first non-primetime program to finish as the most-watched cable news show for three-consecutive quarters.

Fox News averaged 1.5 million viewers during the second quarter, while no other basic cable networks surprised the one-million viewer benchmark. MSNBC averaged 684,000 to finish second, followed by ESPN, TNT and HGTV. It was the fifth straight quarter that Fox News topped basic cable among total viewers.

During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., Fox News finished No. 1 with an average audience of 2.3 million to top NBA playoffs-heavy TNT’s second-place average of 1.8 million viewers. ESPN, MSNBC and HGTV rounded out the top five while CNN’s primetime lineup of Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon settled for only 670,000 average viewers to finish No. 13 among basic cable offerings. 

Fox News has now topped cable news during primetime for 82 straight quarters. This time, Fox News topped CNN and MSNBC during every single weekday hour and aired 96 of the 100 most-watched telecasts in cable news.

Fox News grew 21% compared to the second quarter of last year while CNN and MSNBC shed 20% over the same period. Fox News also gained 11% among the key demo compared to a 31% drop for CNN and a 34% decrease for MSNBC.

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"FOX & Friends" averaged 1.4 million viewers to thump CNN’s "New Day" and MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" combined.  (Fox News)

Fox News also crushed cable news competition among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 229,000 total viewers among the critical category compared to only 113,000 for CNN and a dismal 77,000 for MSNBC. It was MSNBC’s worst quarter among the key demo since 2003 on the heels of Rachel Maddow deciding to scale back her workload to once a week to focus on other projects.

The left-wing outlet named Alex Wagner as Maddow's replacement four nights a week beginning in August, but she has a tough hill to climb to make up for the ratings woes MSNBC's had since Maddow stepped back to just doing her show on Mondays. 

During primetime, Fox News averaged 345,000 demo viewers while CNN managed 155,000 and MSNBC attracted only 121,000 nightly viewers in the category. MSNBC, which has had a hard time attracting younger viewers during the Biden era, finished No. 27, behind such networks as MTV, ESPN 2, Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, Nick-at-Nite, FXX and Adult Swim. 

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 3.1 million viewers to finish behind only "The Five," while "Hannity," "Jesse Watters Primetime" and "Special Report with Bret Baier" rounded out the top five most-watched cable news programs. 

"Tucker" averaged 482,000 viewers among the key demo to win the advertiser-coveted category, followed by "The Five," "Hannity," "Jesse Watters Primetime" and "The Ingraham Angle." 

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"The Ingraham Angle" namesake Laura Ingraham continued to be the most-watched, solo female host in cable news with an average audience of 2.2 million as Maddow’s decision to only work on Monday nights continues to haunt the network. 

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 482,000 viewers among the key demo to win the advertiser-coveted category during the second quarter of 2022. 

"Gutfeld!" averaged nearly two million viewers for its best quarter in history, topping both ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and NBC’s "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" among total viewers. 

"FOX & Friends" averaged 1.4 million viewers to thump CNN’s "New Day" and MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" combined. Fox News’ signature morning show also outdrew anything CNN or MSNBC had to offer during primetime as "FOX & Friends" has now topped cable news morning competition for 15 straight months. 

"America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino," "The Faulkner Focus," "Outnumbered," "America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith," Martha MacCallum’s "The Story" and "Your World with Neil Cavuto" all had strong quarters, too, to help Fox News dominate throughout the day. 

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"Unfiltered with Dan Bongino" averaged 1.4 million viewers to finish the quarter as the most-watched cable news offering on Saturdays, while "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" averaged 1.7 million to take the Sunday title. 

All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.