Fox Leads October Cable Ratings as Audience Falls

Fox News remained the most-watched cable news network in October, averaging about 1.68 million primetime viewers and 1.1 million viewers across the full day, while its audiences declined sharply from October 2025, according to Nielsen figures. MS NOW and CNN trailed in total audience but recorded year-over-year gains in several categories. Fox averaged 925,000 primetime viewers for MS NOW and 598,000 for CNN. Across the full day, MS NOW averaged 588,000 viewers and CNN 402,000. Fox’s totals were also highest among the three networks in the adults 25-to-54 demographic, with 145,000 viewers in primetime and 98,000 for the full day. Compared with October 2025, Fox’s primetime audience fell 28% and its total-day audience declined 27%. Its audience in the 25-to-54 demographic also dropped in both dayparts. MS NOW’s primetime audience rose 14% year over year and its total-day audience increased 16%. CNN’s primetime audience grew 19%, while its total-day audience was up 3%. Fox retained the top five positions among cable-news programs, led by The Five, which averaged about 2.7 million viewers. Jesse Watters Primetime averaged about 2.34 million, followed by Special Report with Bret...