Fox News Breaks Cable News Ratings Record
Fox News delivered its highest-rated quarter in cable news history for weekday total day viewers for the first quarter of 2025 while also being the fastest-growing network in television in primetime year-over-year.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News averaged 2.2 million viewers between Monday and Friday during Quarter 1. This is a new quarterly record, beating the previous number set by Fox News during Quarter 2 2020 when the channel averaged 2.17 million viewers.
In addition, Fox News landed its highest quarter cable news share ever, with 65% of the audience in total day and 66% in primetime.
The big ratings winners for the network were Sean Hannity‘s interview with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which averaged 5.4 million viewers, and Bret Baier‘s interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28, which hit 6.4 million viewers at its peak.
Several Fox News programs posted record ratings in Q1, with the late-night show Gutfeld! delivering its highest-rated quarter in program history with 3.3 million viewers and 453,000 in the 25-54 demo during the 10 PM/ET hour.
The Faulkner Focus, helmed by Harris Faulkner, drew the largest audience in its hour at 11 AM/ET with 2.4 million viewers and 281,000 in the key demo, while also closing the gap with ABC’s The View. Faulkner’s show actually beat The View head-to-head during January for the first time.
Elsewhere, The Five also made cable news history as the first non-primetime program to be the most watched in viewers for 14 consecutive quarters. The show delivered 4.6 million viewers and 500,000 in the key demo for Q1, its highest-rated quarter ever.
Jesse Watters Primetime dominated the 8 PM ET slot, with 4.1 million viewers and 507,000 in the key demo, making it the network’s second highest-rated program after The Five. Taking third place was Hannity, with an average of 3.5 million viewers and 465,000 in the 25-54 demo.
As for cable news morning shows, Fox & Friends led the way with 715,000 viewers and 123,000 in the demo for the 5-6 AM hour and 1.5 million viewers and 198,000 in the demo for the 6-9 AM hours. Fox & Friends Weekend averaged 1.5 million viewers and 183,000 in the key demo.
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