The landscape of television news shifted significantly during the week of February 9, as Fox News Channel’s afternoon roundtable program, The Five, managed to overtake CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil in total viewership. According to the latest data from Nielsen Media Research, this marks the first time this year that the cable program has outpaced the legacy broadcast evening news slot, signaling a strong start for the network in 2026.
While The Five drew an average of 4.126 million viewers, CBS Evening News trailed slightly with 4.1 million. This shift was part of a broader trend for the week, as Fox News recorded its highest-rated weekday and primetime performances of the year so far.
The network’s evening block averaged 3.3 million viewers, comfortably ahead of ABC’s 2.7 million and CBS’s 1.7 million. For CBS, the numbers represented a historic slump, as the network hit its lowest-rated weekday primetime average since 1992.
The ratings momentum extended across the entire Fox News schedule. Jesse Watters Primetime at 8 PM led the pack with 3.6 million viewers, while Special Report with Bret Baier and The Ingraham Angle both cleared the 3 million mark. Even in the late-night slot, Gutfeld! maintained a steady audience of 3.1 million, and Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher reached its highest total viewership since last June.
In the daytime hours, the cable network’s programming continued to pull in more viewers than several established broadcast morning shows. Programs like America Reports and The Will Cain Show averaged over 2 million viewers each, outpacing CBS Mornings and ABC’s GMA3.
The weekend also saw high engagement, with Kayleigh McEnany’s Saturday In America and Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday Morning Futures topping their respective days in the cable news rankings.
These figures come as Fox News maintains its long-standing position as a dominant force in basic cable. With a 64% share of cable news viewers during the 5 PM hour alone, the network continues to rely on a mix of daytime news and opinion-based primetime slots to drive its audience numbers.
As the 2026 media environment evolves, these Nielsen results highlight a narrowing gap between cable mainstays and traditional “Big Three” broadcast news programs.
READ: Fox News Topples Broadcast Giants In New Ratings Surge
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