Fox News Channel started 2023 off with a bang, topping CNN and MSNBC among total viewers for the 23rd straight month as "The Five" continues to make history.
Fox News averaged 1.4 million viewers to finish January as the most-watched channel among all basic cable options, with ESPN averaging 1.3 million to finish second. MSNBC finished third with 703,000 viewers followed by CNN’s average audience of 524,000.
During the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., Fox News averaged 1.9 million viewers compared to one million for MSNBC and only 629,000 for CNN.
"The Five" averaged 3.4 million viewers during the first month of 2023, continuing its historic run as the No. 1 show in cable news for the tenth straight month.
CNN’S DON LEMON-CENTERED MORNING SHOW SUFFERS STEADY VIEWERSHIP DECLINE THROUGH THREE MONTHS
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 3.2 million viewers to finish second, followed by "Jesse Watters Primetime," Hannity," "Special Report with Bret Baier," "The Ingraham Angle," "Gutfeld!," "Outnumbered," "America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino" and "The Faulkner Focus" to round out the top 10.
Fox News programs accounted for 99 of the top 100 cable news telecasts of the month.
The most-watched, non-Fox News program was MSNBC’s "The Beat with Ari Melber," which averaged 1.4 million viewers to finish No. 14. CNN’s most-watched show was "Erin Burnett OutFront," which averaged 821,000 total viewers to finish 25th among cable news offerings.
FOX NEWS’ BENJAMIN HALL URGES VIEWERS TO ‘NEVER GIVE UP’ IN EMOTIONAL RETURN TO LIVE TV
"Tucker Carlson Tonight" finished No. 1 among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging 448,000 viewers to help Fox News sweep the top 14 programs in the category.
"FOX & Friends" continued to dominate mornings, averaging 1.2 million viewers to crush MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" and "CNN This Morning" combined.
"Cavuto Live" was the top cable news program on Saturdays, averaging 1.4 million total viewers. "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" averaged 1.7 million to take the Sunday crown, finishing as the most-watched weekend cable news show in the process.
BENJAMIN HALL’S ‘SAVED’ HITS NO. 1 ON AMAZON’S NEW RELEASES ON PRE-ORDERS ALONE
Fox News was also the most-watched network across the political spectrum. More independents and Democrats turned to FNC as their go-to cable news network than MSNBC and CNN across several categories, including total viewers, according to Nielsen MRI-Simmons Fusion.
All ratings data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.