Fox news dominates July cable news ratings as all networks see declines

Fox News Channel easily won the cable news ratings race for July, finishing first in prime time and total day ratings—and taking four of the top five most-watched shows for the month, including Tucker Carlson Tonight, which was the top-rated prime time show with a total audience of more than 3 million viewers.

Compared to the same month one year ago, all of the cable news networks saw ratings declines—to be expected after a year that featured not just a presidential election cycle, but a global pandemic—but Fox News was down by the smallest margins in all categories: total viewers in total day and prime time, and viewers 25-54, the demographic group most valued by national advertisers.

In prime time, Fox News delivered an average total audience of 2.124 million viewers in July, down 34% from the same month one year ago. MSNBC was second with 1.312 million viewers (down 37%) and CNN finished third with a total audience of 856,000 viewers—down 43%.

In the key demo, CNN had the biggest year-over-year drop in prime time, with 190,000 viewers—a drop of 52%. MSNBC was off by 44% from 2020 with a total audience of 168,000 viewers, and Fox News had the smallest decline—delivering 333,000 viewers which was down 36% from 2020.

Tucker Carlson continued to be the most-watched host in cable news in all key categories, including the key demo, delivering an average audience of 520,000 viewers, followed by FNC’s Hannity (422,000 viewers), The Five (359,000 viewers), and The Ingraham Angle (347,000 viewers). MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show finished in fifth place in the key demo, with 302,000 viewers.

Among total viewers, Tucker Carlson Tonight was first, followed by FNC’s Hannity (2.697 million viewers) and The Five (2.528 million viewers), MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (2.295 million viewers) and Fox’s The Ingraham Angle (2.071 million viewers). Forbes