The Year in Weather: The Weather Channel and Fox Weather Enjoyed Significant Viewership Spikes

2024 had its fair share of weather events that received top billing over newsier topics like politics, the economy, business, sports, and entertainment.

Hurricanes dominated the news cycle, with three making landfall within the lower 48 states. Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 storm on July 8; Hurricane Helene landed as a Category 4 on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sept. 26; and Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Sunshine State in October, touching down as a Category 3 storm.

Helene was the most destructive of the three hurricanes, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicating that it was the deadliest hurricane to affect the continental U.S. since Katrina in 2005. The hurricane led to more than 150 direct fatalities, the majority occurring in North Carolina and South Carolina.

These major storms—as well as other weather events taking place throughout the year—kept America’s major weather networks, including The Weather Channel and Fox Weather, very busy.

The Weather Channel 

Hurricane Milton was the network’s most-watched weather event of 2024, with October posting its best monthly, weekly, and daily performance. The Weather Channel ranked among the Top 5 cable networks in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo between Oct. 7-10 and was the top cable network among that audience on Oct. 9 when the hurricane made landfall. It outperformed the combined viewership of Fox News and CNN on that day.

Outside of its special hurricane coverage, The Weather Channel’s highest-rated program of 2024 was Weekend Recharge, which saw 313,000 total viewers and 48,000 demo viewers on Aug. 4. Its highest-rated primetime show of the year was Highway Through Hell, which attracted 267,000 total viewers and 13,000 demo viewers on Mar. 17. 

Fox Weather

Like The Weather Channel, Fox Weather saw significant viewership growth during the month of October due to coverage of Hurricane Milton. 

Note: Fox Weather’s viewership is not Nielsen measured as it is primarily distributed as a streaming network. Data sources for Fox Weather streaming: Adobe Analytics, Amagi, Cascada, Roku Portal, Xumo dashboard, Fubo dashboard, YTTV, Tubi dashboard, Hulu, and Nielsen.

During October, Fox Weather’s coverage total view time was up +662% year over year. Oct. 9 was the network’s best day in view time, with 994.8 million minutes streamed across its cable and the FAST channels.

Meanwhile, coverage of Milton and Helene represented 9 out of the top 10 days for the Fox Weather stream, and boosted viewership on the network’s website, which saw a +167% increase in year-over-year page views.

A viral moment occurred during Fox Weather’s Helene coverage involving on-air meteorologist. While on location in Atlanta, Bob Van Dillen switched from reporter to hero mode as he rescued a woman trapped in a flooded car. 

Solar Eclipse

In less perilous weather news, both The Weather Channel and Fox Weather both covered April’s solar eclipse, which crossed over a significant part of the continental U.S.

For nearly two hours, footage of the solar eclipse blanketed the airwaves on both networks—as well as the other major broadcast and cable outlets—from the time it entered North America through Mexico at around 2:07 p.m. ET until it exited via Maine at around 3:35 p.m. ET.

The Weather Channel recorded 464,000 total viewers and 77,000 A25-54 viewers for its eclipse coverage, while Fox Weather had its coverage simulcast on Fox News, which netted 2.1 million total viewers and 210,000 demo viewers.

In addition, view time for the Fox Weather stream spiked during the eclipse, rising +176% over its 30-day average and +414% year-over-year.

We’ll wait to see what Mother Nature has in store for the planet—and for the weather networks—in 2025.

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