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Fox News Ratings In Freefall
Fox News’ prime-time audience fell 23 per cent year on year, prompting CEO Lachlan Murdoch to tell investors that viewers are watching less television rather than switching to rival news channels. The decline matters because Fox remains the largest US cable news network and a major source of news for Republican audiences, while competitors’ ratings have risen.
During the week of 19 October, Fox averaged 1.7 million prime-time viewers, compared with audiences in the hundreds of thousands for MS NOW and CNN; both rivals had grown about 30 per cent over the year, according to Nielsen data. Murdoch cited viewer fatigue, while the article also points to recent coverage, including former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments about Gen Z and hard work, which drew criticism from some young people.
In short
- Fox’s prime-time audience fell 23 per cent year on year.
- Lachlan Murdoch said viewers were watching less TV.
- MS NOW and CNN ratings grew about 30 per cent.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Fox’s decline may reflect a broader pullback from television viewing, as its chief executive argues, rather than viewers moving en masse to rival channels. Viewer fatigue and changes in how people consume news could affect the whole cable market, and a single week’s audience figures do not establish why Fox’s ratings fell.
The case against
The simultaneous growth of CNN and MS NOW while Fox’s audience fell gives reason to question whether general television fatigue explains the decline. Fox’s coverage and public-facing commentary may also be alienating some viewers, particularly younger people, so the figures could reflect dissatisfaction with the network as well as wider changes in viewing habits.