ABC’s “The View” concluded the first quarter of 2025 with an average of 2.62 million viewers, marking a 4% increase from the same period last year and securing its position as the top daytime network talk show. However, Fox News Channel achieved historic ratings during the same quarter, averaging 2.2 million weekday viewers and 3.6 million in primetime, surpassing all competitors in both cable and broadcast news. Notably, Fox News programs such as “The Faulkner Focus” outperformed “The View” in January, and “Outnumbered” led cable news at noon with 2.5 million viewers. This surge underscores Fox News’ continued dominance in the news media landscape
For a deeper dive into the numbers and what they mean for the future of daytime and cable news, explore the full story below.
The ABC program ranked as the most-watched daytime network talk show and news program in total viewers and households
“The View” (ABC/José Alvarado Jr)
“The View” wrapped up the first quarter of 2025 with a ratings uptick, TheWrap can exclusively reveal.
The ABC program averaged 2.62 million viewers during the first quarter — up 4% from the 2.51 million viewers the show averaged during the same quarter last year — according to Nielsen, marking the seventh consecutive time that “The View” has grown its total viewing audience from the quarter a year prior. “The View” also averaged 157,000 viewers among women 18-49, up 11% from the same quarter last year.
“The View” saw viewership growth when compared to last quarter among both key female demos, with women 18-49 growing by 3% from last quarter’s viewership of 152,000. Viewership among women 25-54 also saw a slight 2% uptick from last quarter to reach 216,000 viewers this quarter.
Averaging a 1.77 household rating, “The View” closed out the first quarter as the No. 1 program among daytime network talk shows and news in both rating and total viewers. Viewership for “The View” surpassed NBC’s “Today Third Hour,” which averaged a 1.28 rating and 1.97 million viewers, “Today With Jenna & Friends,” which averaged a 0.86 rating and 1.33 million viewers, and “NBC News Daily,” which averaged a 0.82 rating and 1.25 million viewers.
“The View” also outpaced viewership for “The Faulkner Focus” across several key demos in the quarter, with Harris Faulkner bringing in 2.39 million total viewers, 91,000 viewers among women 18-49 and 127,000 viewers among women 25-54, though “The Faulkner Focus” outpaced “The View” in total viewers in January.
Most recently, during the week of March 24, “The View” ranked as the No. 1 most-watched daytime network talk show and news program both in total viewers, where it averaged 2.4 million viewers, and in households, where it averaged a 1.62 rating. The week also saw the show averaging 183,000 viewers among women 25-54 and 145,000 viewers among women 18-49.
During the week, “The View” outpaced both total viewers and ratings for NBC’s “Today Third Hour,” which scored 1.75 million viewers and averaged a 1.13 rating, “Today With Jenna & Friends,” which averaged 1.26 million viewers with a 0.80 rating, and “NBC News Daily,” which averaged 1.1 million viewers and scored a 0.70 rating.
Season to date, “The View” is averaging 2.6 million viewers — up 5% from last year — and a 1.77 rating, ranking as the No. 1 show among all daytime talk shows and news programs for the fifth consecutive season.
FNC Beats ABC and NBC in Weekday Primetime for March and 1Q’25
‘Special Report’ Outpaces ‘CBS Evening News’ Multiple Times as it Secures Major Interviews with World Leaders, Closes Gap with Broadcast Competition
FOX News Channel Leads All of Television During Every Major Political Event as CNN and MSNBC Decline Across the Board; CNN Has Lowest-Rated Demo in History
‘The Five’ Continues to Break Television Records, Leading Cable News with its Highest-Rated Quarter Since Launch
NEW YORK – April 1, 2025 – FOX News Channel (FNC) delivered its highest-rated quarter in cable news history with weekday total day viewers, securing 2.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. From 8-11 PM/ET (M-F) FNC (3.6 million viewers) beat the broadcast competition on NBC and ABC (3.1 million viewers) for the first quarter of 2025. Additionally, the network secured its highest quarter cable news share ever, dominating with 65% of the audience in total day and 66% in primetime. More Independents and Democrats continued to tune in to FNC over any other cable network, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion as the network remained number one among Hispanic and Asian viewers. Year-over-year, FNC was the fastest growing network in television in primetime, defeating the broadcast competition with total viewers.
Several of FNC’s programs continued to overtake broadcast programs throughout the first quarter. At 5 PM/ET, FNC’s The Five made cable news history as the first non-primetime program to be the most watched in viewers for 14 consecutive quarters. Delivering 4.6 million viewers and 500,000 in 25-54 demo, the program notched the largest audience in the genre. In fact, this was The Five’s highest-rated quarter ever and it surpassed broadcast programs including American Idol, Survivor and The Neighborhood. FNC’s premier newscast Special Report with Bret Baier at 6 PM/ET garnered the largest audience in its timeslot with 3.5 million viewers and 404,000 in 25-54 demo. Featuring exclusive interviews with Elon Musk and his DOGE team on March 27 (3.8 million viewers) and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28th (5.2 million viewers), Special Report dominated the first quarter with key bookings. The show beat CBS Evening News five times during the first quarter, seeing growth of 58% with viewers and 89% in the 25-54 demo year-over-year. Late-night’s highest-rated program, Gutfeld! continued to break records as it delivered its highest-rated quarter in program history with 3.3 million viewers and 453,000 in 25-54 during the 10 PM/ET hour. In addition to the cable news competition, Gutfeld! outpaced all broadcast and late-night television, including CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS’ After Midnight and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
During the first quarter, FNC was the go-to channel for all political events, establishing itself as the go-to destination for news in all of television. On Inauguration Day, FNC led all of television with 11.4 million viewers, surpassing ABC (4.9 million viewers), NBC (4.8 million viewers) and CBS (4.6 million viewers). FNC’s Inauguration coverage was the top non-sports telecast of the entire first quarter. FNC also led television during President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on March 4 securing 10.7 million viewers and dominating the competition on ABC (6.3 million viewers), CBS (4 million viewers) and NBC (3.9 million viewers).
For Monday – Sunday total day, FNC averaged 1,919,000 viewers (+48%) and 247,000 (+58%) in the 25-54 demo, posting double-digit increases year-over-year. During primetime from 8 – 11 PM/ET, FNC delivered 3,012,000 viewers (+46%) and 380,000 in 25-54 demo (63%). In contrast, CNN and MSNBC saw declines across the board in both total day and primetime. With total day 25-54 demo, CNN saw its worst quarter in history with just 79,000 younger viewers. FNC has now marked 93 consecutive quarters as the most-watched cable news network in primetime, a feat dating back to 2002.
From 9-11 AM/ET, America’s Newsroom with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer dominated its timeslot with 2.3 million viewers and 260,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Faulkner Focus helmed by Harris Faulkner drew the largest audience in its hour at 11 AM/ET with 2.4 million viewers and 281,000 in 25-54. The Faulkner Focus also closed the gap with ABC’s The View during the first quarter, beating the broadcast program head-to-head during January for the first time while ensemble program Outnumbered also topped cable news at 12 PM/ET with 2.5 million viewers and 284,000 in 25-54. From 1-3 PM/ET, America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith was the most-watched program with 2.4 million viewers and 280,000 in 25-54. The Story with Martha MacCallum drew the largest cable news audience at 3 PM/ET, averaging 2.3 million viewers and 266,000 in 25-54. At 4 PM/ET, FNC’s newest program The Will Cain Show averaged 2.6 million viewers and 312,000 in the 25-54 demo, a 74% increase with viewers over the 2024 4 PM/ET average on the network. Each program daytime surpassed CBS Mornings (2,019,000 viewers), NBC’s Today Third Hour (1,952,000 viewers), ABC’s GMA3 (1,437,000 viewers) and NBC’s Today with Jenna & Friends (1,315,000 viewers). America’s Newsroom, The Faulkner Focus, Outnumbered and America Reports all had their highest-rated quarters with viewers since launch.
For the first quarter of 2025, FNC delivered 14 of the top 15 shows in cable news with viewers and 25-54 demo, posting increases versus the first quarter of 2024. At 7 PM/ET, The Ingraham Angle topped the competition with 3.4 million viewers and 414,000 in 25-54. Jesse Watters Primetime was cable news’ highest-rated program at 8 PM/ET across the board with 4.1 million viewers and 507,000 in 25-54. Hannity (weeknights, 9 PM/ET) dominated the competition with 3.5 million viewers and 465,000 in the 25-54 demo. Hannity scored the first joint interview with President Trump and Elon Musk on February 18th, which commanded a whopping 5.4 million viewers. At 11 PM/ET, FOX News @ Night was the most-watched program in its timeslot with 1.9 million viewers and 296,000 in 25-54.
The FOX & Friends franchise remained cable news’ most-watched morning shows throughout the quarter. From 5-6 AM/ET, FOX & Friends FIRST outpaced the competition with 715,000 viewers and 123,000 in 25-54 while FOX & Friends (6-9 AM/ET) delivered 1.5 million viewers and 198,000 in 25-54. FOX & Friends Weekend averaged 1.5 million viewers and 183,000 in the key demo.
FNC also continued to excel against the competition throughout the weekend for the quarter, outpacing CNN and MSNBC across both total day and primetime with viewers and winning every hour with total viewers. Additionally, FNC defeated CNN and MSNBC combined with total viewers on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturdays, newly launched My View with Lara Trump was the most-watched show of the day at 9 PM/ET with 1,835,000 viewers. The Big Weekend Show, which expanded to two hours from 6-8 PM/ET, followed with 1,827,000 viewers. FOX News Live (Saturday, 10 AM – 2 PM/ET) was the top show in the demo with 211,000 with A25-54. At 8 PM/ET, Life, Liberty & Levin (weekends, 8 PM/ET) commanded 1,767,000 viewers and FOX News Saturday Night with Jimmy Failla (Saturday, 10 PM/ET) averaged 1,407,000 viewers.
On Sundays at 10 AM/ET, Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday Morning Futures was the top-rated show in viewers garnering 2.2 million viewers and 248,000 in the 25-54 demo. In primetime, Sunday Night in America (Sunday, 9 PM/ET) and Life, Liberty & Levin both averaged 1.7 million viewers. At 11 AM/ET, MediaBuzz, hosted by Howard Kurtz, delivered 1.6 million viewers. One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, which moved to Sunday at 10 PM/ET, commanded 1.7 million viewers and 207,000 in the 25-54 demo.
FNC was the highest-rated network in all of cable news in total day and primetime during the month of March, marking 49 months on top in cable news as well as in all of cable for total day. Additionally, FNC is the only cable news network to post month-to-month increases across the board in primetime. In total day, FNC averaged 1,867,000 viewers increasing year to year (+43%) and 239,000 (+51%) in 25-54. In primetime, FNC garnered 3.1 million viewers (+47%) and 394,000 in 25-54 (+60%). Additionally, FNC notched 95 of the top 100 cable telecasts for the month of March.
