The television landscape saw a significant shift last week as Fox News Channel flexed its ratings muscle, managing to outpace major broadcast networks NBC and CBS in weekday primetime viewership.
According to the latest Nielsen Big Data + Panel figures for the week of January 26, the cable news leader pulled in an average of 3 million viewers during its evening slots, edging out NBC’s 2.9 million and comfortably distancing itself from CBS’s 2.2 million.
This performance marks the network’s strongest week since September 2025. It wasn’t just a win in total volume, either; the network dominated the competitive 25-54 age demographic, which advertisers watch closely. In fact, Fox News laid claim to 90 of the top 100 telecasts across all of cable news for the week, effectively capturing over half of the total cable news audience share.
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The surge was fueled largely by “The Five,” which remains a powerhouse at 5 PM, drawing more than 4 million viewers. The momentum continued into the later hours as “Gutfeld!” maintained its streak of beating out established late-night staples like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon.
While broadcast networks usually rely on their broader reach, the data shows that Fox’s weekday lineup—including “Jesse Watters Primetime” and “Special Report with Bret Baier”—is now consistently outperforming traditional evening news broadcasts in major urban markets like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Daytime programming followed a similar trend. Shows like “The Will Cain Show” and “The Faulkner Focus” managed to pull in larger audiences than broadcast morning mainstays such as “CBS Mornings” and ABC’s “GMA 3.” Even the weekend didn’t see a slowdown, with Maria Bartiromo and Kayleigh McEnany leading their respective time slots.
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While the media world often focuses on the rivalry between cable outlets, these latest numbers suggest the real battle is increasingly between cable news and the traditional “Big Three” broadcasters.
As viewing habits continue to fragment, the ability to maintain a loyal, politically diverse audience appears to be the deciding factor in who takes the top spot on the nightly leaderboard.
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