Nielsen Media Research data for May 2026 shows a major shift in the television landscape, with Fox News Channel outperforming ABC in weekday primetime viewership. The network averaged 2.78 million viewers during these hours, securing the spot as the third most-watched network in all of television, just ahead of ABC’s 2.75 million viewers. NBC led the month with 4.16 million viewers, followed by CBS at 3.63 million.
This performance marks the highest-rated May during a midterm election year in Fox News history. The network also managed to surpass ESPN’s weekday primetime average of 2.8 million viewers, despite ESPN broadcasting the 2026 NBA and NHL playoffs during the same window. According to the data, Fox News captured nearly 60 percent of the total cable news audience share and produced the top 85 cable news telecasts of the month. A May New York Times/Siena poll of registered voters also identified Fox News as the leading single source of news in the country.
While Fox News saw record highs, broadcast networks faced notable declines. ABC posted its lowest-rated May primetime performance of the 21st century across major demographics, averaging 2.75 million total viewers and 577,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age bracket. CBS also experienced drops, with CBS Evening News falling below 4 million viewers for the second month in a row, bringing in 3.8 million viewers. CBS Mornings recorded its lowest-rated May in the history of the program, drawing 1.8 million viewers.
Within cable news specifically, month-over-month viewership dipped across the board compared to April 2026. Fox News averaged 1.53 million total day viewers, down 13 percent from April. MS NOW followed with 595,000 viewers, down 21 percent, while CNN averaged 460,000 viewers, down 23 percent. In primetime, Fox News dropped 17 percent to 2.38 million viewers, MS NOW fell 25 percent to 942,000, and CNN declined 30 percent to 633,000.
Individual program data highlighted strong performances for several late-afternoon and evening shows. The Five remained the top-rated show in cable news, averaging 3.56 million viewers and defeating several broadcast programs, including CBS’s CIA (3.6 million) and ABC’s Celebrity Jeopardy (3.3 million). Jesse Watters Primetime followed as the second most-watched cable news show with 3.14 million viewers.
In late-night television, Gutfeld! averaged 2.85 million viewers, pacing ahead of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2.1 million), NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (1.3 million), Late Night with Seth Meyers (832,000), and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show (538,000). CBS’s new late-night entry, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, averaged 890,000 viewers between May 22 and May 31.
In other time slots, Hannity drew 2.72 million viewers at 9 p.m. Eastern, while its direct competition on MS NOW—The Rachel Maddow Show on Mondays and The Briefing with Jen Psaki from Tuesday through Friday—averaged under 1.2 million viewers combined. At 7 p.m. Eastern, The Ingraham Angle brought in 2.5 million viewers.
For straight news programming, Special Report with Bret Baier averaged 2.66 million viewers at 6 p.m. Eastern, leading CBS Evening News in 19 major television markets, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Earlier in the day, the 4 p.m. Eastern airing of The Will Cain Show drew 2.2 million viewers, while America’s Newsroom averaged 1.9 million viewers from 9 to 11 a.m. Eastern.
In the morning space, FOX & Friends averaged 1.3 million viewers, maintaining its position as the top cable morning news program for 63 straight months and outperforming CBS, ABC, or NBC morning shows in several individual local markets, including Atlanta, Phoenix, and Tampa.
Weekend programming trends continued similarly. On Saturdays, Saturday in America was the most-watched weekend cable news program with 1.7 million viewers, while Sunday Morning Futures led Sunday broadcasts with 1.7 million viewers.
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