TV Ratings: 'The Five’ Keeps Outperforming Primetime

When Tucker Carlson was booted from Fox News last year, he took his massive prime time ratings with him. But according to Mediaite, an overlooked story is that in the final years of his reign he often traded ratings wins with a show that aired in the afternoons, a show that has now grown into a consistent behemoth of a ratings winner: The Five.

The Five features Fox News hosts Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, and Jeanine Pirro and rotating co-hosts Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. The 5 p.m. show is the perfect place to find passionate and sometimes tense and loud debates on everything from politics to sports to culture.

In the first quarter of 2024, The Five averaged more than three million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. For context, Fox’s prime time shows, which top competitors MSNBC and CNN, don’t quite reach those numbers. Jesse Watters Primetime averaged 2.79 million viewers, Hannity averaged 2.4 million, and The Ingraham Angle averaged 2.2 million viewers.

Airing at 5 p.m. is typically not supposed to bring in the kind of ratings that beat a network’s prime time lineup, but The Five has defied the odds in that respect. The show became the first non-prime time program to break into the cable news top 10 for 10 consecutive quarters.

📺Among Total Viewers

1. The Five — Fox News (3,027,000)
2. Jesse Watters Primetime — Fox News (2,570,000)
3. Hannity — Fox News (2,217,000)
4. Gutfeld! — Fox News (2,083,000)
5. Special Report with Bret Baier — Fox News (2,056,000)
6. The Ingraham Angle — Fox News (2,013,000)
7. Deadline: White House — MSNBC (1,678,000)
8. Outnumbered — Fox News (1,612,000)
9. The Beat with Ari Melber — MSNBC (1,585,000)
10. Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell — MSNBC (1,579,000)
11. America’s Newsroom — Fox News (1,542,000)
12. The Faulkner Focus — Fox News (1,510,000)
13. Your World with Neil Cavuto — Fox News (1,481,000)
14. The Story — Fox News (1,469,000)
15. All in with Chris Hayes – MSNBC – (1,451,000)

📺Among Adults 25-54

1. Gutfeld! — Fox News (295,000)
2. The Five — Fox News (262,000)
3. Jesse Watters Primetime — Fox News (244,000)
4. Hannity — Fox News (240,000)
5. The Ingraham Angle — Fox News (198,000)
6. Outnumbered — Fox News (197,000)
7. Special Report with Bret Baier — Fox News (196,000)
8. The Faulkner Focus — Fox News (188,000)
9. America’s Newsroom — Fox News (186,000)
10. Fox News at Night — Fox News (183,000)
11. Fox & Friends Saturday — Fox News (167,000)
12. America Reports — Fox News (163,000)
13. The Story — Fox News (162,000)
14. Fox & Friends Sunday — Fox News (161,000)
15. Your World with Neil Cavuto — Fox News (160,000