Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN all took a beating during the month of April with all three networks recording declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.
MSNBC and CNN suffered double-digit drops across the board, with the former recording the steepest drops as the network transitioned to a new weeknight schedule that saw Rachel Maddow resume her once-a-week hosting duties.
These May drops come after MSNBC was the only network to post month-to-month gains in total viewers during primetime and total day in April.
Despite its month-to-month declines, Fox News continued to dominate the cable news landscape, and finished ahead of the ABC broadcast network in weekday primetime total viewers.
Fox News
According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News had 2.463 million total viewers and 262,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime. During total day, it had 1.557 million total viewers and 180,000 demo viewers.
Compared to its April 2025 performance, FNC experienced a -5% decline in total viewers and an -11% decrease in the demo during primetime viewing hours. Across total day, it was down a respective -4% and -11% in those measured categories.
Looking at Fox News’ performance alongside the same month in 2024, it rose +23% in total viewers and +32% in the demo during primetime. In total day, it was up by +21% in the former category and +22% in the latter—the only news network to see year-to-year gains.
MSNBC
MSNBC ranked as the No. 2 cable news network among total viewers in primetime and total day with 877,000 and 545,000 viewers, respectively. The network also pulled in a respective 73,000 and 49,000 A25-54 viewers across both of those dayparts.
Month-to-month, MSNBC was down -27% in total viewers and -30% in the demo in primetime. During total day, the network was down -17% in the former category and -21% in the latter.
Year-to-year, MSNBC dropped -24% in total viewers and -34% in the demo during primetime. The network was down a respective -33% and -41% in those measured categories during total day.
CNN
CNN saw 426,000 total viewers and 76,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime. Across total day, the network averaged 353,000 total viewers and 59,000 demo viewers.
Compared to its April primetime performance, CNN dropped -18% in total viewers and -23% in the demo. During total day, it dropped -14% in the former category and -13% in the latter.
Year-to-year, CNN was down -18% in total viewers and -21% in the demo during primetime. In total day, CNN declined a respective -25% and -27% in those measured categories.