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Fox News Channel once again handily beat its cable news competitors in ratings last month as the network continued its years-long dominance in the industry, led, in part, by former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
In February, Fox’s “The Five” was the industry leader, followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” TVNewser noted: “Fox News is finishing February 2023 as it did January 2023, as the most-watched basic cable network in total day. FNC averaged nearly 1.44 million total viewers in the 6 a.m.-6 a.m. daypart in February, making it the most-watched basic cable network in total day. Fox News was also the most-watched basic cable network in primetime for February (2.26 million), and marked 24 consecutive months (or two straight years) as the top-rated cable news network in total viewers and among Adults 25-54.”
Compared to January 2023, Fox News saw an increase of 7% in total day viewership and 9% in the total day A25-54 demographic in February. However, the network has experienced a decline of 14% in the A25-54 demo from February 2022. It should be noted that the final few days of February 2022 featured extensive coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making it difficult for the network to match those figures, especially in non-primetime hours.
By March, however, The Five switched places with Carlson, the latter taking the top spot and her program slipping to No. 2, TVNewser noted in a separate story. In all, Fox News held the each of the Top Ten basic cable news listings:
- Fox News | 8 p.m. / Tucker Carlson Tonight: 3,251,000/ 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 5 p.m. /The Five: 3,058,000 / 18 telecasts
- Fox News | 7 p.m./Jesse Watters Primetime: 2,670,000 / 17 telecasts
- Fox News | 9 p.m./ Hannity: 2,505,000 / 16 telecasts
- Fox News | 6 p.m. / Special Report with Bret Baier: 2,200,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 10 p.m./The Ingraham Angle: 1,966,000 / 17 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 p.m./Gutfeld! : 1,878,000 / 19 telecasts
- Fox News | 12 p.m. / Outnumbered: 1,629,000 / 20 telecasts
- Fox News | 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m. / America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino: 1,594,000 / 40 telecasts
- Fox News | 11 a.m. / The Faulkner Focus: 1,547,000 / 20 telecasts
During the period, McEnany made her return to “Outnumbered” after being absent for weeks following the birth of her second child.
“I’m so excited to return to Outnumbered tomorrow at 12 pm ET with Harris Faulkner and Emily Compagno. Blake & Nash are ready to watch their mommy,” she wrote.
In January, she announced she had written a book, “Serenity in the Storm: Living through Chaos by Leaning on Christ.”
I’m excited to reveal the cover of my upcoming book “Serenity in the Storm: Living through Chaos by Leaning on Christ”!
Pre-order here (available wherever books are sold!): https://t.co/3Kbx4COvE8 pic.twitter.com/QJpnAEkj4Y
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) January 8, 2023
On Amazon, the description of the book states: “Kayleigh McEnany brings to life the key cultural and political issues of our time, from the fall of Afghanistan to the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, analyzing world events through the lens of faith and providing readers with Serenity in the Storm. Our world, without question, is experiencing aberrational times. The ravages and life-altering realities of COVID-19 that I worked through as White House press secretary were just the start of it. What followed was a series of history-defining events. From the fall of Afghanistan to the nationwide crime wave, we’ve all endured painful images of death, destruction, and chaos.”
McEnany’s meteoric rise to cable news stardom continued before she left to have her baby, as Outnumbered drew even more viewers. The show broke into the top 20 programs in all of cable television in December, besting every program on rival networks CNN and MSNBC.
In addition to drawing in more overall viewers, ‘Outnumbered’ also topped competitors in the 25-54 age demographic in early August, which is sought after most by advertisers.
“‘Outnumbered’ got almost three times as many viewers as CNN’s ‘Inside Politics’ and did more than triple MSNBC’s show in the timeslot, Andrea Mitchell Reports, which continues to hemorrhage viewers,” Slay News reported. “McEnany’s daytime show also crushed some of CNN’s primetime lineup, beating Don Lemon 1.768M to 649K.”
TVNewser noted as well for March: “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell is MSNBC’s most-watched show for the month of March. The 10 p.m. program averaged 1.45 million total viewers — No. 11 on all of cable news and up from February.
“Anderson Cooper 360 is CNN’s most-watched show in March, averaging just 635,000 total viewers at 8 p.m.; more total viewers than any other CNN offering but down from its February average (673,000).”
