Fox News falls behind NBC and ABC in midterm election night ratings
Final Nielsen figures show Fox News averaged 4.3 million prime-time viewers as Democrats won the House and Senate.
At a glance
- Fox News averaged 4.3 million viewers from 8-11pm on midterm election night, below NBC's 6.7 million and ABC's 5.2 million.
- Fox's prime-time audience fell about 41% from 7.422 million during the 2022 elections, according to Nielsen figures.
- Lachlan Murdoch acknowledged 'viewer fatigue,' while Donald Trump blamed Fox's booking of Democratic candidates for the ratings decline.
Fox News averaged 4.3 million total viewers between 8pm and 11pm on Tuesday’s US midterm election night, according to final Nielsen figures released on Thursday, as Democrats took control of the House and Senate. The network, which often leads all news networks in election-night viewership, finished behind broadcasters NBC and ABC.
Ratings across networks NBC drew 6.7 million total viewers in the same prime-time window and ABC drew 5.2 million, according to Nielsen. Fox News edged out CNN at 4.1 million, MS Now at 3.7 million and CBS News at 2.8 million. CNN performed better than Fox News, MS Now and CBS in the 25-to-54 age demographic prized by advertisers.
Preliminary numbers released on Wednesday had put Fox News behind both CNN and MS Now in total prime-time viewership. The final figures released on Thursday placed Fox News ahead of those cable rivals.
Across the big six television networks, prime-time election coverage averaged nearly 27 million total viewers, up from 22.215 million in 2022. Fox News averaged 7.422 million viewers during the 2022 elections, meaning its Tuesday audience slipped about 41%.
Viewer fatigue The result came as Trump reached historic levels of unpopularity, and Fox News has seen some viewers tune out in recent weeks. Last month, the network’s total day viewership was down 27% compared with the same month a year earlier, though it still handily defeated CNN and MS Now. Lachlan Murdoch, chief executive of parent company Fox Corp, acknowledged “viewer fatigue” on an earnings call on Monday.
Trump criticises Fox Trump criticised Fox throughout election night and blamed the network for his party’s losses. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening, he mocked the network’s October figures and attributed the decline to its industry-standard practice of booking Democratic candidates for interviews.
“FoxNews Ratings are way down (27%!) because they’re spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats!” he wrote. “All of those people who used to watch Fox, and no longer do, get it. It’s them, not me – My numbers are better than they have ever been.”
This story was updated on Thursday afternoon to reflect final viewership figures released by Nielsen.
Source: The Guardian World.
Questions and answers
- How many viewers did Fox News have on midterm election night?
- Fox News averaged 4.3 million total viewers between 8 and 11pm, according to Nielsen. It was behind NBC's 6.7 million and ABC's 5.2 million, but ahead of CNN, MS Now and CBS News.
- Why did Fox News ratings drop?
- The source links the decline to viewer disillusionment with Donald Trump and his party amid Trump's unpopularity. Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch acknowledged 'viewer fatigue,' and Trump blamed Fox's booking of Democratic candidates.
- How did Fox News ratings compare with the 2022 midterms?
- Fox News averaged 7.422 million viewers during the 2022 elections, so its 4.3 million audience on Tuesday was about 41% lower, according to Nielsen.
