From the first days of 2026, Americans have witnessed some of the most consequential moments of Donald Trump’s presidency. Venezuela, Minnesota, tariffs, artificial intelligence, and Iran have shaped the news over the past 10 weeks.
Breaking news events put media outlets to the test and, if done well, have the potential to drive massive audience growth. So far this year, there’s no bigger winner than Fox News and stars like Maria Bartiromo.
After starting 2026 as the top-rated TV network for the 24th consecutive year, Fox News has only continued to set new milestones in the past few months. The network has put together a string of audience achievements, including its recent coverage of the Iran strikes and Trump’s State of the Union.
Beating Broadcast Networks
When Trump addressed Congress on Feb. 24, Fox News Channel beat everyone. The network drew 11.5 million total viewers and 2.1 million in the key 25-54 demographic, topping broadcast networks ABC, NBC, and CBS head-to-head.
Fox News’ coverage, anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, pulled 9.1 million viewers from 9 p.m. ET onward—more than every other cable and broadcast outlet covering Trump’s address.
At one point during the evening, Fox News held 67% of the entire cable news audience. MS NOW and CNN combined didn’t come close. Fox News also drew the largest audience during Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s Democrat response, averaging 4.7 million viewers. Sean Hannity’s special live edition following the response delivered 3 million viewers on its own.
Must-See Coverage
The momentum didn’t stop there. The following weekend delivered numbers that haven’t been seen in more than two decades.
In the early hours of Feb. 28, Fox News sprang into action to cover the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Across the day, it averaged 3 million viewers—its most-watched Saturday since April 2003.
Primetime that Saturday evening hit 4 million viewers, and a special edition of “The Story with Martha MacCallum” even edged out “Saturday Night Live.”
Over the full weekend, which featured nonstop breaking news alerts, Fox News posted its highest-rated two-day stretch since the attempted assassination of then-candidate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.
Bartiromo’s Breakthrough
Perhaps the single most compelling story from this stretch belongs to Bartiromo.
The veteran Fox Business Network anchor and host of Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” recorded the best performance in her program’s history, drawing 3.4 million viewers on March 1.
That’s an impressive number for a Sunday morning show and a testament to the loyalty Bartiromo has built with an audience that trusts her to ask the questions others won’t.
Digital Dominance
Fox News is also building on that dominance across digital platforms.
In January, FoxNews.com delivered its best month ever, surpassing 187 million total digital multiplatform unique visitors, according to Comscore. For 21 consecutive months, Fox News has topped its digital competitors in multiplatform views.
On YouTube, Fox News topped all news brands and broadcast networks with 466 million video views in January, a 14% increase year-over-year. February continued the trend, with 370 million YouTube views.
And in the span of just last week, March 2-8, breaking news propelled Fox News to nearly 200 million views on YouTube. Emplifi’s rankings put Fox News well ahead of its competition—with more than twice as many views as MS NOW and CNN combined.
| News Outlet | YouTube Views |
| Fox News | 197,971,295 |
| MS Now | 76,115,054 |
| CNN | 74,339,652 |
| NBC News | 50,911,781 |
| ABC News | 40,349,107 |
| CBS News | 22,412,463 |
| NY Times | 7,351,251 |
Hannity’s New Show
This week, one of Fox News’ biggest names launched a new podcast. Sean Hannity, the longest-running host in the industry and top talk-radio host in the country, debuted “Hang Out with Sean Hannity.”
The twice-weekly show premiered March 10 and will feature long-form conversations with newsmakers across politics, business, culture, and sports, starting with prolific commentator Stephen A. Smith and hockey player Matthew Tkachuk. The shows are filmed at Hannity’s personal studio in Florida.
“Sean Hannity remains one of the most influential voices in media, grounded by the same values and work ethic that defined his early days,” said Porter Berry, president of Fox News Digital and New Media. “We’re thrilled to expand our podcast portfolio with one of the most accomplished broadcasters to ever pick up a microphone.”
Hannity joins a lineup that includes “Ruthless,” “Will Cain Country,” “Planet Tyrus,” and “The Riley Gaines Show.”
As we know from our own experience at The Daily Signal—with shows like “The Tony Kinnett Cast” and “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words”—podcasts have proven to be a huge growth opportunity.
Hannity has one of the largest and most engaged audiences already on radio and TV, and there’s good reason to believe he’ll have success with the new show.
A Winning Formula
Of course, all of this comes against the backdrop of legacy media still struggling to adapt to changes in audience behavior and news consumption.
Fox News has figured out a formula that works.
Its CEO, Suzanne Scott, said that’s because of Fox News’ “ability to meet the audience where they are.” It’s true. Americans respect news organizations that don’t talk down to them and that cover the stories others would rather ignore.
The numbers from the first 10 weeks of 2026 are impressive—and validate that Fox News’ approach is working.
