FOX News Channel booked its highest-rated July 4th in network history during the week of June 29, hitting a holiday peak of 5.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research Big Data + Panel data released today.
The record-setting Saturday performance helped drive double-digit week-to-week growth for the network. Fox News logged a 16% jump in total-day viewers and a 24% increase in the key 25-54 age demographic, outpacing competitors in building its audience share over the previous week.
For the full week, Fox News averaged 2.5 million weekday primetime viewers, pulling ahead of ABC (2.2 million), NBC (2.2 million), and CBS (1.9 million). In the 25-54 demographic, the network drew 224,000 viewers during weekday primetime hours. Total day averages for Monday through Sunday landed at 1.6 million viewers.
The network’s Independence Day programming anchored the historic weekend. Saturday’s primetime line-up averaged 3.5 million viewers (and 357,000 in the 25-54 block), while the total day average sat at 2.3 million viewers. A six-hour special broadcasting from Washington D.C.—helmed by Bret Baier, Sean Hannity, Dana Perino, Harris Faulkner, and Brian Kilmeade—averaged 3.9 million viewers, capturing 73% of the total cable news market share between 7 PM and 1 AM ET.
Audience numbers reached their highest point between 11:15 PM and 11:45 PM ET, bringing in 5.7 million total viewers and 701,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo during President Trump’s holiday address. The weekend’s most-watched program overall was the special broadcast America 250: Celebrating Freedom, which drew 3.3 million viewers, followed closely by holiday editions of America’s Newsroom (2.9 million) and Outnumbered (2.5 million).
The ratings momentum started early on Friday, with the network pulling 2.8 million primetime viewers to beat out CBS (1.7 million) and NBC (1.5 million). Later that night, coverage of the America250 Times Square ball drop averaged 2.1 million viewers from 11:30 PM to 12:30 AM ET, finishing ahead of ABC’s 2 million viewers.
Weekday programming maintained steady leads over standard broadcast lineups. The Five remained the week’s top-performing regular program with 3.2 million viewers. The rest of the evening slate saw Special Report with Bret Baier bring in 2.4 million viewers, The Ingraham Angle net 2.2 million, Jesse Watters Primetime draw 2.8 million, and Hannity finish with 2.1 million.
In late-night blocks, Gutfeld! attracted 2.6 million viewers and FOX News @ Night with Trace Gallagher secured 1.6 million, both ahead of CBS’s Comics Unleashed (760,000). During the day, regular programs including America’s Newsroom, The Faulkner Focus, and Outnumbered each averaged 1.8 million viewers, ahead of broadcast daytime options like NBC’s Today with Jenna & Sheinelle (1.5 million) and ABC’s GMA3 (1.4 million).
Sunday programming was led by Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo at 1.7 million viewers, followed by The Sunday Briefing hosted by Jacqui Heinrich (1.5 million) and FOX News Live with Mike Emanuel (1.6 million). Evening programs Life, Liberty, & Levin and Sunday Night in America each drew 1.2 million viewers, while One Nation with Brian Kilmeade closed the night with over 1 million viewers.
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