CNN, MS NOW & Fox News Third Quarter 2026 Ratings Revealed
CNN, MS NOW & Fox News Third Quarter 2026 Ratings Revealed
Martin HolmesFri, October 2, 2026 at 12:44 PM UTC
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Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Jesse Watters - CNN YouTube; MS NOW YouTube; Fox News YouTube
The cable news ratings for the third quarter of 2026 are in, and Fox News remains ahead of the competition despite seeing steep declines from the same period last year.
According to Deadline, citing Nielsen data, Fox News averaged 2.06 million total viewers in primetime in the third quarter, with 183,000 viewers in the key Adults 25-54 demographic. This was down 17 percent in total viewers and down 24.7 percent in the demo compared to the third quarter in 2025.
Across total day, Fox News averaged 1.32 million total viewers and 120,000 demo viewers. This was down 15.8 percent in total viewers and down 24.5 percent in the demo compared to last year.
MS NOW averaged 930,000 total viewers and 84,000 demo viewers in primetime for the third quarter. This was up 16 percent in total viewers and up 27.3 percent in the key demo compared to the same period in 2025.
In total day, MS NOW averaged 592,000 total viewers and 56,000 demo viewers. This was up 20.3 percent in total viewers and up 36.6 percent in the demo compared to last year.
Meanwhile, CNN averaged 607,000 total viewers and 101,000 demo viewers in primetime for the third quarter. This was up 12.8 percent in total viewers and up 16.1 percent in the demo.
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Across total day, CNN averaged 426,000 total viewers and 61,000 demo viewers. This was up 7.6 percent in total viewers and flat in the demo compared to the same period in 2025.
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Elsewhere, NewsNation reported that its primetime viewership was up 12 percent in the third quarter, with its demo number up 8 percent. The network averaged 120,000 total viewers in primetime and 13,000 demo viewers across the third quarter.
Newsmax, meanwhile, averaged 185,000 total viewers and 9,000 demo viewers in primetime for the third quarter.
As for September viewership, Fox News’ The Five held the top spot, averaging 2.79 million total viewers and 273,000 demo viewers. MS NOW’s top-tanked program was The Rachel Maddow Show with 1.79 million total viewers and 186,000 demo viewers. CNN’s top show was NewsNight with Abby Phillip, averaging 610,000 total viewers.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
