TV Ratings: FOX News Is America's Top Network

During the week of March 3 - 9, FOX News Channel (FNC) averaged 4.8 million viewers in weekday primetime, finishing as the number one network in all of television ahead of CBS (4.2 million viewers), NBC (3.4 million viewers) and ABC (2.6 million viewers).

In primetime (8-11 PM/ET), FNC soared to 3.9 million viewers and 550,000 in the 25-54 demo, commanding all of cable with viewers. In total day (6AM-6AM/ET), FNC posted 2.1 million viewers and 280,000 in the 25-54 demo. Notably, this was FNC’s highest-rated week in primetime with viewers and A25-54 since the week of the Election in November.

FOX News’ coverage of President Donald Trump’s first second term address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, March 4th was the highest rated joint address to congress in cable news history with an audience of 10.7 million viewers and 1.9 million in A25-54 from 9:17-10:58 PM/ET. FNC’s programming surrounding the address, co-anchored by chief political anchor Special Report’s Bret Baier and anchor and executive editor of The Story Martha MacCallum, drew the largest audience in all of television, topping broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS in viewers and all cable networks across the board. 

The network also drew the largest audience for the Democratic response, averaging 5.9 million viewers and nearly 1 million in A25-54. During coverage of the speech, FNC held 74% of the cable news audience share in viewers and 70% in the A25-54 demo as MSNBC (1,924,000 viewers; 237,000 25-54) and CNN (1,929,000 viewers; 585,000 A25-54) were down versus Trump’s 2017 address. FOX News Media delivered an audience of 13.8 million viewers and 3 million in A25-54 across FNC, FOX Business Network (FBN) and FOX Network. 

Ratings Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN

For the week, The Five averaged 4.7 million viewers and 523,000 in the 25-54 demo, leading cable news across the board. In fact, The Five beat Saturday Night Live and NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC with viewers. At 6 PM/ET, Special Report with Bret Baier drew 3.6 million viewers and 413,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Ingraham Angle saw 3.4 million viewers and 423,000 in the 25-54 demo at 7 PM/ET. At 8 PM/ET, Jesse Watters Primetime delivered 4.4 million viewers and 554,000 in the 25-54 demo, which led cable news with younger viewers. At 9 PM/ET, Hannity posted 3.7 million viewers and 503,000 with A25-54. At 11 PM/ET, FOX News @ Night secured 2 million viewers and 321,000 in the 25-54 demo.

FNC’s The Will Cain Show continued to drive up the ratings at 4 PM/ET for FOX News commanding 2.6 million viewers and 316,000 in the 25-54 demo, a 74% increase with viewers compared to the same week last year.

At 10 PM/ET, FNC’s late-night offering Gutfeld! secured 3.7 million viewers and 488,000 with A25-54. Gutfeld! once again topped the broadcast competition including CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (1,814,000 viewers; 272,000 A25-54), ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1,487,000 P2+; 246,000 A25-54) and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (1,044,000 P2+; 235,000 A25-54). 

FNC continued to see a number of its daytime programs outpace the broadcast competition. Outnumbered (weekdays, 12 PM/ET; 2,582,000 P2+), Harris Faulkner’s The Faulkner Focus (weekdays, 11 AM/ET; 2,516,000 P2+), The Story with Martha MacCallum (weekdays, 3 PM/ET; 2,402,000 P2+), America’s Newsroom (weekdays, 9-11 AM/ET; 2,357,000 P2+) and America Reports (weekdays, 1-3 PM/ET; 2,313,000 P2+) all led CBS Mornings (2,021,000 P2+), NBC’s Today Third Hour (1,820,000 P2+), ABC’s GMA3 (1,431,000 P2+), NBC’s Today with Jenna & Friends (1,250,00 P2+) and NBC News Daily (1,198,000 P2+) with viewers.  

On Saturday: My View with Lara Trump (Saturday, 9 PM/ET) was the most-watched show of the day with 1.8 million viewers and 199,000 in the 25-54 demo. Life, Liberty & Levin (weekends, 8 PM/ET) followed with 1.7 million viewers and 171,000 in the 25-54 demo. FOX News Saturday Night with Jimmy Failla commanded 1.4 million viewers and 188,000 in the 25-54 demo at 10 PM/ET.

On Sunday: Maria Bartiromo’s exclusive interview with President Donald Trump on Sunday Morning Futures, was the most-watched show of the entire weekend with 2.2 million viewers and 272,000 in the 25-54 demo. One Nation with Brian Kilmeade (Sunday, 10 PM/ET) was the number one show in primetime with 1.7 million viewers and 242,000 in the 25-54 demo. Life, Liberty & Levin also posted 1.7 million viewers at 8 PM/ET.

Source: Nielsen. Live+SD. Week of 3-3-25 ratings data. Average audience for cable news networks Monday-Sunday based on Total Day and Prime (6a-6a, 8P-11P), P2+, P25-54, P18-49. Cable News/Broadcast Program averages exclude repeats and include the corresponding program name.

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS:

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.891 million), Adults 25-54 (1.064 million) and Adults 18-49 (786,000) during the week of March 3, 2025, based on Live+Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.“World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.393 million, 952,000 and 637,000, respectively) by 1.498 million Total Viewers, by 112,000 Adults 25-54 and by 149,000 Adults 18-49.

• “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” year to year (+6% – 1.498 million vs. 1.411 million).
• “World News Tonight” improved on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+1%/+104,000 – 7.891 million vs. 7.787 million) and Adults 18-49 (+4%/+31,000 – 786,000 vs. 755,000). “World News Tonight” increased year to year in overall viewers for the 6th straight week.

• For the week, “World News Tonight” (7.891 million, 1.064 million and 786,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (4.378 million, 623,000 and 413,000, respectively) by 3.613 million Total Viewers, by 441,000 Adults 25-54 and by 373,000 Adults 18-49.

📺BROADCAST NETWORK MORNING SHOWS

ABC News’ Good Morning America has surged back to the top, overtaking NBC News’ Today to become America’s most-watched morning show in the latest twist of their ongoing ratings tug-of-war.

A slim margin of 47,000 total viewers pushed GMA ahead of Today for the first week of March.

 Notably, ABC’s morning program was the only one to post week-to-week increases in both total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demographic, a favorite among advertisers.

Meanwhile, Today not only relinquished its top ranking but also stood alone among morning shows in registering declines across both tracked metrics compared to the prior week.

Per Nielsen’s live-plus-same-day figures, GMA pulled in an average of 2.741 million total viewers and 476,000 A25-54 viewers for the week of March 3. That marked a +2% uptick in both categories from the previous week. However, compared to the same week in 2024 (March 4), GMA saw a -5% drop in total viewers and a steeper -16% decline in the demo.

Today slipped to second place with 2.694 million total viewers, though it held onto its lead in the A25-54 demo with 668,000 viewers. Week-to-week, it dipped -1% in total viewers and -2% in the demo. Year-over-year, Today was down -4% in total viewers and -1% in the demo.

CBS Mornings rounded out the pack with 2.021 million total viewers and 373,000 A25-54 viewers, holding steady in total viewers while gaining +4% in the demo from the prior week. Against the same week in 2024, however, it faced a -10% slide in total viewers and a -17% drop in the demo.

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