Exclusive interviews and town hall conversations with the two leading candidates for the White House helped Fox News score the highest ratings of any cable news network in the United States, according to Nielsen figures.
The channel marked the 44th-straight month of being the leader in cable news with prime-time and total-day viewership, and with viewership in the key demographic of adults between the ages of 25 and 54 years old (A25-54), the group most-attractive to cable news advertisers.
In prime-time, Fox News saw an average audience of 2.8 million people tune in, including 359,000 in the A25-54 group, according to Nielsen. The average total day viewership in October was logged at 1.6 million viewers and 212,000 in the A25-54 group, Nielsen showed.
“The Five” continued its position as the most-watched cable news program during the weekday schedule, grabbing an average daily audience of 3.6 million viewers, including 364,000 in the A25-54 group. “Jesse Watters Primetime” was the highest-rated prime-time cable news shows with an average audience of 3.5 million viewers and 454,000 in the A25-54 demographic, Nielsen data showed.
There were a number of events during October that helped push Fox News to the top of the ratings pile: The network featured a town hall interview with former President Donald Trump that featured only women in the audience, and also aired an exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during “Special Report with Bret Baier.” Fox News was also one of several networks that simulcast the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate earlier in the month, for which it drew the highest overall audience, second only to CBS itself.
Total week viewership was logged at 1.623 million, including 212,000 in the A25-54 demographic, besting both CNN and MSNBC in both categories.
By comparison, CNN posted double-digit year-over-year growth with its prime-time programming from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., though its audience still trailed Fox. CNN logged an average daily audience of 538,000 total viewers and 101,000 in the A25-54 group, according to Nielsen.
The Fox News Channel is part of Fox News Media, a business unit of Fox Corporation. CNN is owned by Warner Bros Discovery.
