Fox News Channel dominates CNN and MSNBC in historic third quarter news cycle as The Five makes history

During the historic third quarter of 2024 news cycle, Americans turned to Fox News Channel in droves for information and analysis.

In the third quarter of 2024, President Biden ended his re-election bid, Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as the Democratic nominee, and Senator JD Vance and Governor Yim Walz were named candidates for their party's nomination in both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention and two assassination attempts against former President Trump.

Along the way, Fox News had the second-highest third quarter in history, surpassing ABC and CBS and all cable networks in total viewership.

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“The Five” became the first non-primetime program in cable news history to be the most-watched program for 12 consecutive quarters.

Fox News averaged 1.6 million total daily viewers at the end of the third quarter, making it the only basic cable network to reach the one million viewer plateau. MSNBC came in second with an average of 889,000, followed by CNN, ESPN and USA. It was the 14th consecutive quarter that Fox News finished with the largest daily audience on all of cable.

Fox News reached an average of 2.7 million viewers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., placing it in first place among cable channels by a wide margin. MSNBC ranked second with an average primetime audience of 1.5 million viewers, followed by ESPN with an average of 1.2 million viewers. CNN failed to break the one million viewer mark, finishing in fourth place with an average primetime audience of 924,000.

Since the first quarter of 2002, Fox News has been the most-watched cable news channel for a whopping 91 consecutive quarters. FNC also experienced the strongest growth in cable news compared to the third quarter of 2023 and retained the largest share of the cable news audience with 52% of total day viewers and 53% in prime time.

“GUTFELD!” ATTRACTS THE LARGEST AUDIENCE IN THE PROGRAM HISTORY WITH TRUMP’S PERFORMANCE

Former President Trump appeared on Fox News' “Gutfeld!” in September, where he was asked about everything from surviving two assassination attempts to the criticism he receives from celebrities. (FOX)

When it comes to the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults ages 24 to 54, Fox News leads all cable networks with an average of 215,000 daily viewers. ESPN averaged 213,000 and ranked second in the critical category, followed by USA, CNN and MSNBC.

Only NFL-strong network ESPN topped Fox News from 8 to 11 p.m. in the key demo, while FNC averaged 367,000 viewers in the primetime demo, making it the No. 1 cable news channel in the category sought by advertisers.

“The Five” became the first non-primetime program in cable news history to finish as the most-watched program for twelve consecutive quarters, as Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro and rotating co-anchors Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. averaged 3.5 million total viewers to stay at the top.

“Jesse Watters Primetime,” “Hannity,” “Gutfeld!”, “The Ingraham Angle” and “Special Report with Bret Baier” all had spectacular months to rank “The Five” among the top six most-watched shows. In fact, Fox News was home to the 12 most-watched shows in all of cable news.

“Hannity” dominated the 9 p.m. ET hour, landing as the No. 1 cable news show in the key demos.

Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier would moderate FOX News Media's scheduled presidential debate. (Fox News Media)

“Gutfeld! continued its record-breaking year with the highest ratings quarter in programming history, averaging 2.8 million total viewers and 413,000 in the key demo to top all broadcast and late-night television, including CBS' “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” , ABC's “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, NBC's “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” CBS' “After Midnight” and Comedy Central's “The Daily Show.”

“Gutfeld!” reached the largest audience in the program’s history in September former President Trump had a guest appearance.

“FOX & Friends,” “America's Newsroom” with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer, “The Faulkner Focus,” “Outnumbered,” “America Reports” with John Roberts and Sandra Smith, “The Story with Martha MacCallum” and “Your World” . with Neil Cavuto,” all had a strong chance of helping Fox News crush the competition.

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Fox News Channel features Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity and Greg Gutfeld. (Fox News)

Fox News also made history by delivering the highest-rated primetime convention coverage ever during the RNC with 10.4 million viewers and 2 million in the demo.

Fox News closed the quarter with strong results and was the highest-rated network in all cable news, both daytime and prime time, in September, remaining at the top for 43 consecutive months.

ABC's simulcast of the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump on FOX News Media attracted 14.2 million viewers.

All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.