Last Thursday, viewers had plenty of choices on broadcast and cable TV: ABC aired two hours of Bachelor in Paradise, Discovery’s “Shark Week” featured three consecutive hours with shows like Great White Sex Battle and Jaws vs. Mega Croc, and NBC broadcast a two-hour American Ninja Warrior.
Yet, Forbes reports Fox News Channel’s prime-time lineup of Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham topped the ratings, averaging 2.949 million viewers. ABC followed closely with 2.915 million, then CBS with 2.121 million, and NBC with 1.787 million.
Fox News continued its Nielsen dominance, securing the top spot again on Friday night.
The cable news giant has been outperforming all summer, emerging as the most-watched network across both cable and broadcast.
For Fox Corporation’s executive chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch, this success reflects Fox News’ evolution beyond a traditional cable news channel.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in March, Murdoch noted, “We no longer see Fox News as just a news service but as one of the top five broadcast networks in the U.S., despite not having the same distribution as broadcast networks.”
Although ABC, CBS, and NBC reach more households, Fox News has overcome this gap. Its show The Five, the top-rated program in cable news, doesn’t even air during prime time (8-11 p.m.), when viewership typically peaks.
“Fox News has become a go-to destination,” Wallace said. “Our audience knows where to find us.”