Fox News Channel continued to dominate ahead of its 30th anniversary, finishing the third quarter of 2026 ahead of CBS among weekday primetime viewers while crushing all of cable.Fox News averaged 2.4 million weekday primetime viewers to beat CBS for the quarter while continuing to lead the broadcast network year-to-date among weekday primetime viewers.When it comes to cable, Fox News averaged 1.3 million total-day viewers to finish as the only network to crack the one-million viewer benchmark.MS NOW finished second with an average audience of 592,000 followed by ESPN, CNN and HGTV.FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP, FOX CORPORATION ANNOUNCE LANDMARK STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TO GROW FOSTERING THE FUTURE"The Five" averaged 3.1 million total day viewers to finish as the No.
1 show on cable news. (FOX News Media)During primetime, Fox News averaged 2.1 million viewers compared to 1.1 million for second-place ESPN.MS NOW settled for 930,000 and CNN managed only 607,000 as Fox News outdrew them combined in both categories.Along the way, Fox News commanded 56% of the audience in total day and 57% during primetime."The Five," with Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Emily Compagno, Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., averaged 3.1 million viewers to finish as the No.
1 show on cable news.It was the 20th consecutive quarter that "The Five" has been the highest-rated show in cable news."Jesse Watters Primetime," "Gutfeld!," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "Hannity" and "The Ingraham Angle" rounded out the top six as Fox News offerings nearly swept the top 14 cable news programs.
Fox News is on pace for its highest-rated midterm election year in network history with total day viewership.The only non-Fox News program to finish inside the top 14 was MS NOW’s "The Rachel Maddow Show," which only airs once per week."Maddow" averaged 1.9 million viewers to finish seventh, but only aired 10 episodes the entire quarter compared to 59 for "The Five."CNN’s most-watched show was "Newsn...