FOX News Ratings Surge Amid Election Turmoil

According to the latest data from Nielsen Media Research, Fox News and CNN are experiencing growth in viewership during major political events this year, such as the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the RNC, and Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. This is particularly significant given the overall decline in cable news viewership since the 2020 elections.

The week after the attempted Trump assassination and the Republican National Convention, Fox News was the most viewed network on television, accounting for 70% of the television viewing audience. Their viewership lead extended beyond news networks, as Fox News outperformed ESPN and MSNBC combined in ratings.

The viewership data reveals a 93% increase, from 1.519 million to 2.542 million, in Fox News’ audience during the week of the RNC, compared to the first six months of the year, and a 147% rise from the same week last year. CNN also saw a 36% increase in viewership compared to the first six months of 2024 and a 54% increase compared to the same week last year. 

The week of the RNC wasn’t exceptional for all networks, though. ABC saw a slight 2% decrease in viewership compared to the prior week, while CBS experienced a more significant 12% drop, and MSNBC saw a 13% decline in viewership compared to the first six months of the year, but a 16% increase compared to the prior week. NBC had a small 4% increase in viewership compared to the prior week and a 10% increase compared to the same week, but a 14% decrease compared to the first six months of 2024.

During the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. timeslot, Fox News and CNN experienced substantial increases in viewership, 132% and 63%, respectively, in July 2024 compared to July 2023. MSNBC experienced only modest increases of 4% from July 2023 to July 2024.

The most successful Monday shows for Fox News were Harris Faulkner’s “Outnumbered” and “The Faulkner Focus,” which take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays and attracted 3.3 million viewers each on the Monday after the RNC. The next most successful shows were ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View,” which both garnered around 2.8 million viewers. Among the prime demographic of 25 to 54-year-olds, “Good Morning America” had 489,000 viewers, compared to “Outnumbered,” which had 491,000 viewers in the same demographic.

The online front shows similar trends with Fox News’ online platform, Fox Nation, seeing a 78% increase in minutes watched during the week of the RNC compared to the four-week average prior to the debate. Live streams on Fox Nation also surged, with a 401% increase in viewership. They also achieved the highest number of media initiates and total minutes spent across Fox News and Fox Business devices since the 2020 presidential election week.

Digitally, the week of the RNC was a record-setting week for Fox News Digital, according to Adobe Analytics and Emplifi. Fox News GO reached record levels of media initiates and total view time, and Fox Nation reported a 78% increase in minutes watched. Social media interactions on Facebook, X, and Instagram rose by 66%, and Fox News garnered 88.6 million views on YouTube, which was 91% higher than ABC News.