This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of October 6, 2025.
Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN experienced erosion in viewership during primetime and total day, both in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo, for the just-concluded week.
The primetime demo losses for all three networks were not kind as they all registered double-digit drops within that segment.
For the week of October 6, Fox News outperformed the CBS broadcast network during weekday primetime among total viewers, with 2.7 million viewers compared to 2.2 million.
Meanwhile, the 1 p.m. ET replay of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS finished ahead of its cable news rivals for the second week in a row in the advertiser-coveted demo with 96,000 viewers. It was ahead of Fox News, which had 91,000 viewers, and MSNBC, which had 44,000 viewers.
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According to Nielsen big data + panel for the week of October 6, Fox News averaged 2.285 million total viewers and 220,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime. The network was down -7% in total viewers and -11% in the demo compared to the week prior (the week beginning September 29).
Fox News averaged 1.481 million total viewers and 145,000 A25-54 viewers in total day viewing. Based on its average in those measurements from the previous week, it was also down -4% in total viewers and -2% in the demo.
Fox News remained in second place in total primetime viewership and fourth place in the demo among all basic cable networks. In total day, it remained in first place in total viewers and slid from second to third place in the total day demo.
MSNBC, in primetime, averaged 814,000 total viewers and 78,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week that just concluded. The network saw losses of -9% in total viewers and -10% in the demo compared to its average the week prior during primetime. It remained the second most-watched network in the primetime demo for the second consecutive week.
During total day, MSNBC averaged 504,000 total viewers and 46,000 demo viewers. This represented a decrease of -3% in total viewers and -2% in the demo compared to the network’s average the week prior.
Among all basic cable networks, MSNBC fell two places to fifth place in total primetime viewers and dropped from No. 12 to No. 16 in the demo. It was fourth, down from third place, in total viewers and moved down to 15th place from 14th in the total day demo.
CNN averaged 459,000 total primetime viewers and 66,000 A25-54 viewers in the demo during primetime for the week of October 6. It was down -14% in total viewers and -21% in the demo compared to the previous week.
