Week of Oct. 6 Cable News Ratings: Declines Across the Board

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.

NETWORKS:

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.

In total day, the network had 382,000 total viewers and 56,000 viewers in the demo. This resulted in a -3% loss in total viewers and -7% in the demo during this daypart.

Among all cable networks, CNN slipped to eighth place from sixth in total viewers and dropped from No. 13 to No. 21 in the demo during primetime. It fell to sixth place from fourth during total day with total viewers and dropped down one spot to No. 9 in the demo.

When looking at these networks’ performance during the same period a year ago, which featured coverage of Hurricane Milton:

During primetime, Fox News was down by -8% in total viewers and by -27% in the A25-54 demo. During total day, the network saw decreases of -5% in total viewers and -28% in the demo.
MSNBC was down -34% in total viewers and -40% in the demo. During total day, the network was down -42% in total viewers and -51% in the demo.
In primetime, CNN declined by -40% in total viewers and -59% in the demo. During total day, it saw losses of -32% in total viewers and -48% in the demo.

PROGRAMMING:

Fox News had 14 out of the 15 spots of the most-watched cable news shows of the week, with The Five continuing to lead the way with 3.657 million total viewers at 5 p.m. ET. MSNBC’s presence in the chart was courtesy of The Rachel Maddow Show, which aired at 9 p.m. ET on Mondays, taking the No. 11 position with 1.883 million total viewers.

The Five reclaimed its first place position in the Adults 25-54 demo, averaging 211,000 viewers at 5 p.m. ET. Once again, Fox News had 14 out of the 15 top spots in the demo, with The Rachel Maddow Show at 9 p.m. ET on Mondays taking the No. 12 position with 122,000 viewers.

Prime Time

	Fox News	MSNBC	CNN
• Total Viewers:	2,285,000	814,000	459,000
• A25-54:	220,000	78,000	66,000

Total Day

	Fox News	MSNBC	CNN
• Total Viewers:	1,481,000	504,000	382,000
• A25-54:	145,000	46,000	56,000

Week 10-6-25 P25-54 Cable Ranker BDP by Adweek