2024 was anticipated to be a progressive year for most cable news platforms, with increased ratings due to the U.S. Presidential election, featuring Donald Trump, a major figure with broad appeal. While Fox News, CNN and MSNBC experienced a rise in audience counts, the latter two suffered significant post-election viewer drop off, following Trump’s spectacular victory and Kamala Harris’ disappointing defeat.
The aftermath of the election left many questions looming. A primary concern in 2025 is whether regular audiences of CNN and MSNBC, which significantly diminished post-election, will return once their election hangover fades. Speculations are high among adminstrative figures, as they ponder whether viewers will turn to other content sources, shifting preferences towards podcasts and digital steaming platforms that echo their political ideologies.
Adjustments are certainly on the horizon as both MSNBC and CNN are poised to undergo significant modifications. MSNBC finds itself on the precipice of severing ties with Comcast, while CNN invests itself in a digital video overhaul. Despite these internal shakeups, Fox News retained its dominant position in the primetime market, accruing an impressive average of 2.38 million viewers, a stunning 30% uplift from the previous year.
Meanwhile, MSNBC managed to muster an unimpressive 1.22 million, barely up 1% from their prior year. CNN, notwithstanding the massive hype, secured around 685,000 viewers, a mild 18% increase. The news demographics skewed towards Fox News as well, showcasing an astounding 40% jump to an average of 294,000 individuals in the age group of 25-54.
In contrast, CNN, despite their claims of being a universal platform, gathered a mere 147,000, a rather sluggish 17% increase that lagged behind Fox News. MSNBC trailed even further behind CNN, scrapping together an embarrassing 133,000, a paltry 9% uptick.
News stations continued their feverish battle during the total daytime. Fox News emerged victorious once again, boasting an average of 1.46 million viewers, representing a 21% surge. MSNBC followed distantly with 791,000, scraping together a measly 2% increase while CNN remained flat at 481,000.
It appears that, thanks to broadcasting the majesty of Trump’s electoral triumph, Fox News has garnered an overwhelming 72% of the primetime cable news audience post-election. Conversely, MSNBC’s and CNN’s ratings painted a somber picture of their plummeting appeal, dropping by 57% and 49% respectively, from the election day in 2024 until the end of the year.
Fox News had the most viewed cable news show in 2024. ‘The Five’ attracted an impressive average of 3.4 million viewers, followed closely by ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ with a robust 3.1 million, ‘Hannity’ with 2.8 million, ‘Gutfeld!’ with 2.54 million and ‘The Ingraham Angle’ with 2.51 million.
Furthermore, ‘Gutfeld!’ was a particular hit amongst the sought-after 25-54 demographic, with an average viewership of 355,000, followed by ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ with 352,000, ‘Hannity’ with 341,000, ‘The Five’ with 331,000 and ‘The Ingraham Angle’ with 278,000.
MSNBC has claimed modest victories (by their standard) over CNN during major news events, including the State of Union and Election Night, amassing 34% more viewers in 2024 than in 2016; this, despite a significant decrease in pay-TV households by 28%.