Powered by what surveys show is the most diverse and loyal audience in cable news, Fox News again ended the week of May 18 as the most-watched television news channel, a title it has held almost every week for 24 consecutive years.
Fox News was ranked as No. 1 in all daytime cable news viewership the week of May 18, with an average audience of 1,501,000, according to Nielsen Media Research Big Data + Panel. MS NOW ranked No. 3 in all-day viewership with 579,000, CNN ranked as No. 4 with an average of 439,000, while CNBC ranked No. 29 at 125,000.
Fox News Channel attracts almost 60% of the cable news viewing audience. And contrary to public perception, its audience is not made up of just Republicans. In fact, according to Nielsen and MRI Fusion, Fox News has the most politically diverse cable news audience, drawing increasing numbers of Democrats and independents.
Not only does Fox News bring in a diverse viewership, but it also keeps its existing audience. According to a 2026 Brand Keys survey, Fox News has the highest loyalty ratings in morning and evening cable news.
The same can’t be said for “CBS Evening News.” Its ratings have dropped for the seventh week in a row.
Fox News Outranking Its Competitors—and the Networks
With Fox News holding steady at No. 1 in all daytime cable news viewers, the rest of the week’s top five was rounded out by ESPN, ranked No. 2, followed by MS NOW, ranked No. 3, CNN at No. 4, and HGTV nesting at No. 5.
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Fox News Channel’s weekday daytime viewership of “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” with 1.8 million viewers, also surpassed that of ABC’s “GMA3,” with 1.3 million viewers.
Weekday primetime is not the only area Fox is leading, but also late-night programming. Fox News Channel’s “Gutfeld!” led in viewership against ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” actually edged out Greg Gutfeld in his next-to-last week on the air, with the help of an appearance by David Letterman and audiences tuning in for Colbert’s pending farewell.
Still, even Colbert offered a tip of the hat to “Gutfeld!”’s shining success on his last episode of “The Late Show.”
The Top Fox News Shows Dominate Weekdays and Weekends
A few other notable numbers from the May 18 ratings.
- “The Five” was the highest-rated program of the week with 3.5 million viewers.
- “The Big Weekend Show,” co-hosted by Tomi Lahren and Johnny Joey Jones at 5 p.m., ranked as the top Saturday program with 1.7 million viewers
- “Sunday Morning Futures,” anchored by Maria Bartiromo, led Sunday cable news viewership with 1.7 million viewers.
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