Fox News Channel topped broadcast networks in weekday primetime viewership for both the week of August 3 and the summer season to date, according to Nielsen Media Research data released Wednesday.
During the week of August 3, Fox News averaged nearly 2.6 million weekday primetime viewers, placing it ahead of ABC’s 2.2 million and CBS’s 2 million.
For the summer period spanning June 21 to August 9, 2026, the network averaged over 2.6 million weekday primetime viewers. That figure placed Fox News ahead of NBC (2,576,000), ABC (2.3 million), and CBS (2 million). Year to date, Fox News has averaged 2,876,000 weekday primetime viewers compared to CBS’s 2,852,000.
In Monday-through-Sunday primetime for the week of August 3, Fox News reached over 2.2 million viewers overall and 211,000 in the key adults 25-54 demographic, marking a 9% week-over-week increase in that age bracket.
Across total day programming, the channel averaged nearly 1.4 million viewers and 137,000 in the 25-54 demographic, representing an 11% weekly gain in the demo.
The ratings report also noted performance metrics for individual programs:
“The Five” led channel viewership for the week with nearly 3.4 million viewers and 305,000 in the 25-54 demographic.
Evening Primetime: “Special Report with Bret Baier” drew almost 2.4 million viewers at 6 p.m. ET, followed by “The Ingraham Angle” at 7 p.m. (2.3 million), “Jesse Watters Primetime” at 8 p.m. (2.8 million), “Hannity” at 9 p.m. (2.3 million), and “Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher” at 11 p.m. (1.4 million).
Late Night: “Gutfeld!” at 10 p.m. ET averaged nearly 2.7 million viewers and 299,000 in the 25-54 demo, outpacing NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (1.5 million overall; 291,000 in the demo) and CBS’s airings of “Comics Unleashed” (751,000 overall; 120,000 in the demo).
Daytime: Fox News daytime shows—including “America’s Newsroom” (1.7 million), “The Faulkner Focus” (1.6 million), “Outnumbered” (1.6 million), “America Reports” (1.6 million), “The Story with Martha MacCallum” (1.7 million), and “The Will Cain Show” (1.9 million)—each drew higher average viewership than broadcast daytime entries ABC’s “The View” (1.5 million), NBC’s “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle” (1.4 million), and ABC’s “GMA3” (1.3 million).
CBS Morning Performance: CBS’s “CBS Mornings” recorded 1,621,000 total viewers and 255,000 in the 25-54 demographic, marking its 11th consecutive week under 300,000 viewers in the demo.
On the weekend, “Saturday in America” with Kayleigh McEnany was the highest-rated cable news program on Saturday with over 1.6 million viewers. Sunday’s programming was led by “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, which reached almost 1.6 million viewers.
All figures reflect Nielsen Big Data + Panel audience averages for the week of August 3, 2026.
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