Fox News Viewership Falls 28% Ahead of Election
The network retains its lead in cable news but records its sharpest year-over-year decline in October during an election cycle since 2016.
By Valentina Rojas ·
Fox News lost 28 percent of its primetime viewers compared to October of last year, marking the steepest pre-election ratings drop for the channel in ten years. The network still commands the largest audience in cable news, but the decline is the sharpest recorded in this demographic during an election month since 2016.
Nielsen data shows Fox News averaged 1.68 million viewers in primetime in October 2026. Its full-day average was 1.01 million viewers. The network retained the top spot for the five most-watched cable news programs. The Five led that list with 2.7 million daily viewers.
In the key advertising demographic of adults aged 25 to 54, Fox News posted 145,000 viewers in primetime. CNN followed with 107,000 primetime viewers, and MS NOW recorded 95,000. Over the full day, Fox News reached 98,000 viewers in that age group, while MS NOW reached 62,000 and CNN reached 60,000.
Competitors saw substantial gains during the same period. MS NOW primetime viewership increased by a double-digit percentage from a year earlier, and CNN posted similar double-digit growth in primetime. MS NOW full-day viewership also rose, while CNN full-day viewership increased by 3 percent.
Fox News points to its digital performance to counterbalance the linear drop. The network reported 3.8 billion YouTube views in 2026 according to the analytics firm Emplifi. That figure exceeds the 2.96 billion views recorded by MS NOW and the 2.36 billion views from CNN.
Media analysts suggest President Trump’s low approval ratings and a political environment favorable to Democrats may have influenced viewer habits. Nielsen figures do not specify reasons for the shift, but the data shows a clear divergence between Fox and its rivals.
Historical comparisons place the current drop in context. In previous election cycles, October ratings often surged. Fox saw a 20 percent total day increase in October 2024, and all three networks gained viewers in 2016 and 2020. This year’s decline contrasts with those historical patterns.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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