Archive · 11 Sep 2026
Trump's GOP Convention Fails to Boost Cable News Ratings
Donald Trump’s convention speech did not bring more cable-news viewers than usual.
Fox News showed the convention and had about 2.3 million viewers during primetime.
That was fewer than its average audience in September 2025.
Trump’s speech itself had about 2.5 million Fox News viewers.
CNN also had fewer viewers than its September average.
MS NOW gained viewers compared with its earlier average.
MS NOW showed less of the speech and more commentary from its analysts and guests.
Nielsen supplied the ratings figures through Fox News.
Fox News averaged 2.3 million viewers during Wednesday’s convention coverage, below its September 2025 primetime average of 2.54 million.
Trump’s speech drew 2.5 million Fox News viewers between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern.
Fox News’s speech audience was lower than the September averages for Hannity and Gutfeld!.
CNN averaged 441,000 primetime viewers, down from its September 2025 average of 543,000.
MS NOW averaged 1.1 million viewers after carrying limited portions of Trump’s speech and focusing on analysis.
- Who
- Donald Trump, Fox News, CNN, and MS NOW were involved in the coverage and audience comparisons.
- What
- Trump’s GOP convention coverage did not produce a ratings increase for Fox News or CNN, while MS NOW’s audience rose.
- When
- The coverage aired on Wednesday, with Trump speaking from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern; comparisons used September 2025 averages.
- Where
- The broadcast ratings concerned U.S. cable-news television coverage.
- Why
- The reported ratings suggest the convention did not attract larger audiences for Fox News or CNN than their regular programming averages.
- Fox News primetime audience
- 2.3 million viewers
- Fox News September 2025 average
- 2.54 million primetime viewers
- Trump speech audience on Fox News
- 2.5 million viewers from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern
- CNN primetime audience
- 441,000 viewers
- CNN September 2025 average
- 543,000 viewers
- MS NOW primetime audience
- 1.1 million viewers
- Ratings source
- Nielsen figures provided via Fox News