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‘The Five’ Celebrates 11-Year Anniversary, The Show’s Dominance of Cable News Ratings

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


“The Five” co-hosts on Fox News celebrated the show’s 11-year anniversary on Monday by noting all of the friendships, guests, hosts, and success.

“The Five became the first non-primetime program to finish as the most-watched cable news show for three consecutive quarters last month, as hosts Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Jeanine Pirro, and rotating hosts Geraldo Rivera, Jessica Tarlov, and Harold Ford, Jr. pulled in an average audience of 3.3 million viewers despite airing at 5 p.m. ET.,” Fox News noted in a press release.

“The show first premiered in July 2011 and was only supposed to have a five-week temporary run. Since then, The Five has emerged as one of Fox News’ highest-rated programs, finishing No. 1 with an average audience of over 3 million viewers, as the channel crushes CNN and MSNBC viewership. Fox News finished as the most-watched cable news channel for the 72nd straight week, in large part due to The Five’s massive audience,” the statement added.

“I can’t imagine, those first shows must’ve been terrible looking back,” Perino quipped, praising viewers for making her 11 years as a co-host an “awesome” experience.

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“One of the things I’ve always been amazed by is that they remember some of the things that happened 11 years ago, and they can tell you exactly what it was and who said it and why it made them laugh,” Pirro added.

Pirro said she is grateful that the show gives her the chance to “pipe off on all the different topics of the day.”

“I love it…I love you all, that’s a great part of it,” she added.

Co-host Jesse Watters appeared too distracted by the spicy rigatoni, alla vodka, and cannolis at the party to offer words of reflection.

“I don’t want to say anything, I just want to eat,” Watters joked, helping himself to a plate of food catered by a New York City Italian restaurant.

Fox News dominated the cable news ratings in the second quarter of 2022, claiming the crown as the most-watched network on cable.

Fox News also extended its winning streak over its cable news competition and has been in first place for a whopping 82 consecutive quarters.

The Five topped the charts with Independents and also pulled in the largest audience of Democrats on all of cable news.

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“According to Nielsen MRI, an average of 801,000 Democrats watched The Five in April, just edging out The Rachel Maddow Show, which brought in 788,000 viewers who identify as Democrats. Carlson, Hannity, and Jesse Watters had the 3rd, 4th, and 5th most-watched shows by Democrats – with Lawrence O’Donnell bringing in the 6th most Democrats. Carlson and The Five led with Republicans, bringing in 1.39 million and 1.29 million GOP-affiliation viewers – respectively,” the report stated.

There’s a noticeable trend lately with more viewers who identify as Democrats watching Fox News.

Carlson’s primetime show on Fox News smashed another key barrier earlier this year.

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Television viewership data released by Nielsen/MRI Fusion reveals that Carlson’s show is the number one most-watched show among Democrats in the key demographic of 25-54 year-olds.

“As a network, Fox News owns the majority of cable news airtime around the clock. Fox takes in 56% of total primetime viewership, and 55% of daytime viewership. Fox also leads CNN and MSNBC among Independents and even pulls in a plurality of Democrats. Fox pulled in a total of 58% of all Independents who watched cable news, while MSNBC garnered 25% and CNN got just 17%. Fox was number one among self-identified Democrats, with 39% of total viewership, MSNBC came just in second place with 38%, and CNN fell behind with just 24%,” the report detailed.

Aside from Fox News’ dominance, CNN’s ratings have plummeted to new lows.

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