The Fox News Channel saw an average of 3 million viewers tune in for its coverage of the Iowa Caucus on Monday, more than any other comparable cable news channel in the U.S., according to data from Nielsen.
The channel’s prime-time coverage of the Iowa Caucus grabbed more than 2.8 million overall viewers and 402,000 viewers in the key demographic of adults ages 25 to 54 years old (A25-54), a group that is favored among cable news advertisers.
By comparison, MSNBC averaged 1.1 million overall viewers and nearly 143,000 viewers in the A25-54 demographic during prime-time, while CNN posted 688,000 overall viewers and just under 194,000 viewers in the A25-54 group throughout the evening, Nielsen ratings revealed.
All three cable news networks called the Iowa Caucus for Republican front-runner and former president Donald Trump early in the evening, with coverage throughout the rest of the evening largely focused on who would clinch second place in the race.
In total day viewership, Fox News averaged nearly 1.5 million overall viewers and 189,000 in the A25-54 demographic. MSNBC grabbed just over 712,000 overall viewers and around 68,100 in the A25-54 group during the same time period. CNN placed third with an average overall viewership of 446,400 and around 98,600 in the A25-54 demographic, Nielsen ratings revealed.
Separately, Fox News Digital saw an increase in traffic spurred by interest in the Iowa Caucus on Monday, with 179,000 unique viewing devices and around d246,000 media initiates between the hours of 8 p.m. and midnight Eastern Time, according to data from Adobe Analytics.
Fox News was also the top cable news brand on social media, with 727,000 interactions on X (formerly Twitter) and Meta-owned properties Facebook and Instagram, according to analytics firm Emplifi.
Fox News is operated by Fox News Media, a subsidiary of Fox Corporation. MSNBC is part of Comcast’s NBC Universal. CNN is owned by Warner Bros Discovery.
