Business · Companies · 1 hr ago
Fox News Audience Fell Sharply in October as Cable News Faces Wider Shifts
Fox News averaged 1.1 million total-day viewers in October, down 27% from a year earlier, while CNN and MS NOW gained viewers that month.
Among adults aged 25 to 54, its audience fell 32% to 98,000, its lowest monthly level in 25 years.
The decline comes as cable news audiences shift toward streaming and digital platforms, a challenge that has affected news networks for years.
Some viewers may be following political news less often, but the available research does not explain Fox's October drop or show that viewers have switched to another network.
Fox remained the largest of the three networks in total-day viewing, and its parent company reported higher advertising and distribution revenue for fiscal 2026, though those figures do not cover October.
It is not yet clear whether the decline will last, and changes to Nielsen's measurement system also make year-to-year comparisons less direct.
Fox News’ total-day audience fell 27% in October compared with a year earlier, while CNN and MS NOW gained viewers.
Its primetime audience was down 28% year over year, according to figures reported by Deadline.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch attributed the decline to viewer fatigue and said viewers were watching less television overall, not switching to other news channels.
Fox remained the most-watched cable news network, averaging 1.1 million total-day viewers in October, compared with 588,000 for MS NOW and 402,000 for CNN.
The articles cite broader news avoidance, streaming and digital migration, and changes to Nielsen’s measurement method as possible context, but do not establish a single cause.
- Who
- Fox News and its audience; Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch discussed the ratings decline.
- What
- Fox News’ October audience fell year over year as CNN and MS NOW gained viewers.
- When
- October 2026; Murdoch discussed the decline on a company earnings call on November 2.
- Where
- The United States.
- Why
- Murdoch said viewers were fatigued and watching less television overall. The cause of the decline is not established.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Fox News experienced a viewership drop, then recovered the following year.
Fox News’ total-day audience was 27% lower than in October a year earlier.
Lachlan Murdoch discussed viewer fatigue and ratings declines on Fox’s quarterly earnings call.
Fox News was heading into the elections as the ratings declines were being reported.
- Fox total-day audience
- 1.1 million viewers in October
- Fox year-over-year total-day change
- Down 27%
- Fox primetime change
- Down 28% year over year
- MS NOW total-day audience
- 588,000 viewers in October
- CNN total-day audience
- 402,000 viewers in October
- Fox share of three networks’ combined audience
- 53%
4 sources
What people are saying
Those viewers are not going to any other news channel. They’re not switching to MS Now, or to CNN. They’re just, you know, fatigued and watching slightly less television overall.
What we are seeing is some viewer fatigue, where our viewers have gone through an incredible news cycle last year with the inauguration, the Charlie Kirk tragedy, DOGE, flooding, it was an incredible news cycle last year