More liberals watch Fox News than CNN, new data has found as the station ends 2021 as the number one news channel for the sixth year running.
Fox hauled 29 percent of the liberal audience compared to 24 percent for CNN, according to averages from April to August. MSNBC captured the majority of liberals with a 46 percent share.
A whopping 62 percent of the conservative audience was held by Fox, compared to 24 percent for MSNBC and just 14 percent for CNN, according to data from Nielson/MRI Fusion.
Despite recent resignations by commentators in protest at ‘conspiracy theories’, Fox continues to cut through to a broad section of American society.
In contrast, CNN – which recently axed its top host Chris Cuomo – has seen the biggest audience decline in a year that saw news networks haemorrhage viewers following the ‘Trump bump’ and 2020 election.
In recent weeks the network has faced further meltdown after it emerged one of its top producers – who worked with Cuomo – is facing child sex trafficking charges.
Tucker Carlson continues to be Fox’s biggest ratings spinner, while Greg Gutfeld’s new show has ‘dismantled the Late Night hierarchy’, according to the broadcaster
CNN shed 38 percent of its prime time viewers, while Fox was down 34 percent and MSNBC dropped 27 percent on last year.
In raw numbers, Fox averaged 1.3 million daily viewers, with MSNBC lagging behind on 919,000 and CNN flagging with 787,000.
Rupert Murdoch’s channel greeted the numbers with fanfare, putting out a statement last week lauding its top shows, the jewel in the crown being Tucker Carlson Tonight, and its ‘politically-diverse audience.’
FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said, ‘As we embark on our 20th year as the leader in cable news, the last six of which as number one in all of cable, I am incredibly proud of the unrivaled success we’ve had at FOX News Channel.
‘Not only were we the only network to grow our audience share, but we did so while changing our lineup and transforming the entire late-night television landscape in the process, ensuring our continued momentum for many years to come.’
While other networks focused heavily on Donald Trump following the January 6 riot, Fox found lucrative stories elsewhere.
The shift appeared to be counter-intuitive, with the so-called Trump bump that drove record views and clicks for the media throughout his presidency.
But it worked for Fox, with the audience captivated by Covid-19, critical race theory, crime, the southern border, inflation, and antagonistic coverage of Joe Biden.
Fox’s star lineup crushed the opposition, with only Rachel Maddow of MSNBC coming close, landing around fifth or sixth overall.
Its shows accounted for 10 of the top 15 cable news programs, including Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Five, Hannity, The Ingraham Angle, Special Report with Bret Baier, FOX News Primetime, Gutfeld!, Outnumbered, America’s Newsroom and The Faulkner Focus.
Among the new additions to the line-up was Greg Gutfeld, already known to Fox viewers as one of the members of The Five chat show.
In a proud statement Fox said he had ‘dismantled the Late Night hierarchy’ and finished the year as the second-most watched host in Late Night TV.
CNN axed its most prized asset, Chris Cuomo, after he helped defend his brother Andrew from sexual misconduct allegations
CNN meanwhile acknowledged in its annual review that it had suffered after the Trump bump.
‘Of note: All of cable news dayparts and programs are down double digits vs. 2020 due to heightened viewership during the COVID-19 pandemic and presidential election year a year ago,’ CNN said.
After firing Cuomo because he helped his brother Andrew fight sexual misconduct charges, CNN is banking on its new streaming service CNN+ to lift the network in 2022.
It is entering the streaming wars behind Fox which launched launched Fox Nation in November 2018 and saw its subscriber base jump by 40 percent this year.
