May TV Ratings: Growth For FNC, Double Digits Loses For MSNBC, CNN

In May, Fox News maintained strong ratings growth, outpacing cable news competitors MSNBC and CNN, both of which experienced year-over-year declines. 

MSNBC debuted a new nighttime lineup, with The Weeknight at 7 p.m. ET, Rachel Maddow hosting once weekly at 9 p.m. ET, and Jen Psaki anchoring Tuesday through Thursday in that slot. Despite some recovery from post-election viewership drops, MSNBC and CNN saw double-digit declines compared to 2024, a presidential election year when viewership typically spikes.

In primetime, Fox News averaged 2.46 million viewers (up 23%), MSNBC had 877,000 (down 24%), and CNN had 426,000 (down 18%). In the 25-54 demographic, Fox News drew 262,000 viewers (up 32%), CNN had 76,000 (down 21%), and MSNBC had 73,000 (down 34%). For total day viewership, Fox News averaged 1.56 million (up 21%), MSNBC had 545,000 (down 33%), and CNN had 353,000 (down 24%). In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 180,000 (up 22%), CNN had 59,000 (down 27%), and MSNBC had 49,000 (down 41%).

MSNBC’s top show, The Rachel Maddow Show, averaged 1.89 million viewers, while The Briefing with Jen Psaki drew 950,000, down from Alex Wagner Tonight’s 1.3 million in the same Tuesday-Friday slot from 2022 to 2025. 

Psaki’s show outperformed its lead-in, All In with Chris Hayes, which averaged 912,000. The Weeknight, hosted by Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez, averaged 772,000 viewers, compared to ReidOut’s 955,000 in its final month.

Fox News’ The Five led cable news with 3.77 million viewers, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime (3.23 million), Gutfeld! (2.92 million), Special Report (2.81 million), and Hannity (2.73 million). In the 25-54 demo, The Five had 368,000 viewers, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime (363,000), Gutfeld! (328,000), Hannity (299,000), and The Ingraham Angle (297,000). Nielsen provided these figures through May 23, as reported by Fox News.

NewsNation saw growth, with primetime viewership up 15% to 113,000 from May 2024 and total day viewership at 52,000 (up from 43,000). Its top show, Cuomo, averaged 175,000 viewers, a 48% increase year-over-year.