Fox News’ slump appears to be over, and it’s new prime time line-up is a success, according to the latest ratings period.
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Hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld, especially, dominated in the ratings wars between the three biggest cable news networks. Watters took over Tucker Carlson’s old time slot and Gutfeld is now airing earlier in the evening than his previous “late show” slot.
Watters, who took over for Tucker Carlson in the 8 p.m. time slot, ended July with the top two rated shows on cable news in terms of total viewers: “The Five” and “Jesse Watters Prime Time.”
Gutfeld came in third place overall with his show Gutfeld! at 10 p.m. bringing in 1.983 million total viewers; he is also a co-host of “The Five.”
In July, Fox News re-secured its former position as the most-watched network on cable television, leading in both primetime and total day viewership. It ranked second in the 25-54 demographic during total day viewership, with ESPN taking the top spot.
Fox News maintained its dominance for 29 consecutive months in both total day and primetime total viewership, outperforming its competitors. In primetime viewership, Fox News came close to surpassing the combined viewership of CNN and MSNBC.
According to Fox News:
FNC’s 5 PM/ET roundtable program The Five which has been number one in viewership for seven consecutive quarters, continued its streak with both categories, securing 2,591,000 viewers and 254,000 with A25-54. Evening newscast Special Report with Bret Baier (weeknights, 6 PM/ET) averaged 1,743,000 million viewers and 164,000 in the 25-54 demo.
FNC’s new weekday primetime lineup which debuted on Monday, July 17th, beat the cable news competition across the board with viewers and the younger A25-54 demo. From 7-11 PM/ET, FNC averaged 2,160,000 viewers and 211,000 in A25-54, sweeping CNN and MSNBC in all categories, winning combined in total viewers and more than tripling CNN in overall viewership.
Finishing the month as the highest-rated primetime lineup in all of cable, FNC is the only cable network to average over 1.5 million viewers in primetime. Notably, the new primetime lineup increased FNC’s share of the cable news audience versus the prior month from 41% to 48% in total viewers and from 34% to 42% with A25-54.
Kicking off the new lineup at 7 PM/ET, The Ingraham Angle garnered 1,926,000 million viewers and 174,000 in the 25-54 demo, continuing host Laura Ingraham’s streak as the most-watched woman in cable news.
Following at 8 PM/ET, Jesse Watters Primetime garnered 2,403,000 viewers and 207,000 with A25-54, making it the highest-rated program in primetime viewers and second overall behind only The Five. The program grew the timeslot nearly 50% versus the prior month and posted double and triple digit advantages over the competition on CNN and MSNBC.
FNC’s Hannity which remained at 9 PM/ET scored 2,161,000 viewers, 201,000 in the 25-54 demo, achieving the third most-watched program in all categories, outpacing the competition on MSNBC and CNN combined with total viewers.
Comparatively, CNN’s newly launched The Source with Kaitlan Collins averaged just 558,000 viewers and 109,000 with A25-54 at 9 PM/ET.