The shift from winter to spring, plus the switch to daylight saving time, didn’t rattle the cable news networks too much as they all saw increases during primetime in total viewers.
During total day, the situation was not that positive as none of the networks recorded month-to-month gains in either of the measured categories.
Fox News remains in first place as its viewers turn to it to catch up on the latest with the Donald Trump administration. It finished in March with 95 of the top 100 cable telecasts, even keeping up with the NCAA March Madness tournaments.
Meanwhile, MSNBC only recorded viewership growth in total viewers in primetime. The network was down month-to-month in the primetime demo and in both categories during total day.
Like MSNBC, CNN moved the needle in a positive direction with total viewers during primetime. The launch of its new daytime programming saw it suffer some viewership erosion in the demo during total day, but it maintained its position as the second most-watch cable news network in the demo during primetime and total day.
Fox News
According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News had 3.133 million total viewers in primetime and 394,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demo, while during total day, it had 1.867 million total viewers and 239,000 viewers in the demo.
Compared to its performance in Feb. 2025, Fox News was up +1% in total viewers and +2% in the A25-54 demo during the primetime viewing hours – it was the only network with primetime growth in the demo. During total day, it was down -7% in total viewers and -5% in the demo when compared to the previous month.
Looking at Fox News’ performance to the same month in 2024, it was up by +47% in total viewers and +60% in the demo during prime, while in total day, it was up +43% in total viewers and +51% in the demo.
MSNBC
MSNBC was the number two cable news network in primetime and total day in total viewers in March, with 1.175 million and 629,000 viewers, respectively. The network in the A25-54 demo had 109,000 viewers in primetime and 60,000 viewers during total day.
Compared to February, MSNBC was up +4% in total viewers but down -2% in A25-54 during primetime. It was down -1% in total viewers and -9% in the demo during total day.
Looking at its performance in March 2024, MSNBC was down -10% in total viewers and -18% in the demo during primetime. It was down -24% in total viewers and -30% in the demo during total day.
CNN
During primetime in March, CNN had 591,000 total viewers and 121,000 A25-54 viewers. When looking at total day, the network had 432,000 total viewers and 78,000 demo viewers.