Fox News again topped the ratings for the month of July, but all of the major news networks saw audience declines vs. 2024.
That’s not much of a surprise, as the month last year was a blockbuster one for news, with the Trump assassination attempt, the Republican National Convention and Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race.
In primetime for July 2025, Fox News averaged 2.41 million viewers, down 30%, compared to MSNBC with 865,000, down 27%, and CNN with 497,000, down 42%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 257,000, down 48%, while CNN posted 92,000, down 55%, and MSNBC had 81,000, down 40%.
Fox News noted that it topped the broadcast networks’ primetime averages for the month.
In total day, Fox News averaged 1.53 million, down 19%, while MSNBC posted 530,000, down 26%, and CNN averaged 370,000, down 29%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 184,000, down 31%, while CNN posted 62,000, down 44%, and MSNBC was at 52,000, off by 37%.
Fox News’ The Five topped all cable news shows, averaging 3.53 million, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime with 3.14 million, Gutfeld! with 2.91 million, Hannity with 2.67 million and Special Report with 2.61 million.
In the 25-54 demo, The Five led with 378,000, followed by Gutfeld! with 327,000, Jesse Watters Primetime with 323,000, Hannity with 302,000 and Special Report with 288,000.
MSNBC’s top regularly scheduled show was the once-a-week The Rachel Maddow Show, averaging 2.02 million viewers. CNN’s top show was Anderson Cooper 360, averaging 573,000. Maddow also was the top show for MSNBC in the 25-54 demo, averaging 219,000. Newsnight was CNN’s top show in the 25-54 demo, averaging 116,000.
Other highlights: MSNBC noted that their new evening programs, The Briefing with Jen Psaki and The Weeknight have grown in the 25-54 demo since their launches in May. CNN pointed to the premiere of Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World, drawing 795,000 in total viewers, the best performance for an original series premiere since February 2024, and a testament to Gen X nostalgia.
Meanwhile, Fox News’ daytime The Will Cain Show averaged 2.1 million viewers and 249,000 in the 25-54 demo, ranking in the top 10 among all cable news shows in total viewers and the demo, in what is turning out to be one of the year’s most successful launches.
Among other networks, Nexstar’s NewsNation grew its total day audience by 6%, to 55,000, and its 25-54 number grew by 13% to 9,000. That’s still a fraction of rivals, but in the middle of summer with plenty of distractions, all networks tout gains.