• During primetime, Fox News was down -32% in total viewers and -40% in the A25-54 demo. During total day, the network was down -30% in total viewers and -37% in the demo.
• MS NOW was up +9% in total viewers and +27% in the demo. During total day, the network gained +13% in total viewers and +15% in the demo.
• In primetime, CNN was up by +11% in total viewers and +14% in the demo. During total day, it was up +2% in total viewers but down -5% in the demo.

PROGRAMMING:

Fox News held 12 of the 15 spots among the week’s most-watched cable news shows, with The Five on top with 2.642 million total viewers at 5 p.m. ET. MS NOW was represented in the chart by Monday’s 9 p.m. ET airing of The Rachel Maddow Show, with 1.847 million total viewers at No. 6. The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, airing weeknights at 10 p.m. ET, had 1.216 million total viewers at No. 14, and the 4 p.m. ET edition of Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace was in the No. 15 position, with 1.166 million total viewers. 

The Five remained in the pole position in the Adults 25-54 demo, averaging 270,000 viewers. Once again, Fox News held 12 of the 15 top spots in the demo, with MS NOW’s The Rachel Maddow Show averaging 202,000 viewers to take a surprising second place. The network’s weeknight 7 p.m. ET show, The Weeknight, finished at No. 15 with 112,000 demo viewers. CNN was represented by CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, airing five nights a week at 10 p.m. ET, which finished in 14th place with 116,000 viewers.

September  21, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):

Prime Time

Total Day