Fox News crushes CNN, MS NOW in February with 35% more viewers than both channels combined
Fox News is still reigning supreme in the cable news battle.
The network averaged 35% more total day viewers than CNN and MS NOW combined so far in February, according to new Nielsen data.
During primetime coverage from Monday through Sunday, Fox News averaged 2.61 million primetime viewers – far above CNN and MS NOW’s combined 1.94 million viewers, and beating CBS’ 2.4 million, according to the data, which was earlier reported by Mediaite.
Fox’s average primetime viewership jumped to 3.07 million viewers when looking at weekday data only, according to Nielsen figures.
It also dominated in the key advertising demographic of viewers ages 25 to 54 with average primetime viewership of 260,000, compared to 154,000 at CNN and 131,000 for MS NOW.
Fox News also beat out CNN and MS NOW in total day viewership across the entire week – raking in 1.72 million viewers compared to CNN and MS NOW’s 1.27 million combined.
“CNN’s US TV audiences were up double-digits year-over-year while digital platforms saw high live video viewership in February, underscoring how audiences sought out CNN’s distinctive offerings across TV, digital and streaming platforms,” a CNN spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
Fox News and MS NOW did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
At Fox News, “The Five” – a roundtable-style opinion talk show – was the highest-rated program in February with 4 million average viewers a night.
“Jesse Watters Primetime” clinched second place with 3.44 million viewers; “Special Report with Bret Baier” came in third with 3.1 million; and Greg Gutfeld’s late-night show landed in fourth with 3.04 million.
While Fox News averaged 2.61 million primetime viewers, MS NOW saw 1.14 million and CNN recorded just 807,000, according to Nielsen data.
As for the key 15-to-54 demographic during primetime shows, Fox News raked in 260,000 viewers, while CNN saw 154,000 and MS NOW drew 131,000.
It was, however, a strong month for cable news channels overall as all three notched double-digit percentage increases in both primetime and total day viewership compared to January.
Both Fox and MS NOW saw their primetime viewership soar 28%, while it was up 22% at CNN.
MS NOW also saw the strongest month-to-month gain in total day viewership with 21% growth. Fox News was up 19% and CNN rose 11%.
It was the second straight month of gains for CNN, which also notched its best-rated day since the Democratic National Convention in August 2024.
Meanwhile, MS NOW saw ratings in its 7 p.m. ET time slot surge 30% in February over the past year – a strong boost after it axed lefty host Joy Reid and replaced “The ReidOut” with “The Weeknight,” according to the data.
Fox News is part of Fox Corp, a sister company of The Post’s corporate parent News Corp.
