Welcome back to “The Media Front.”
Fox News Channel is heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections with an unusual problem: Its television audience is shrinking, even as its recent financial results remain strong.
America’s most-watched cable news network lost 27% of its total day viewers in October compared with a year earlier, while CNN and MS NOW gained ground. Among adults 25–54, Fox’s total day audience fell 32% to an average of 98,000 viewers, its lowest monthly level in 25 years, according to Nielsen data.
So where did Fox’s viewers go? And is October a temporary dip in political news viewing or the beginning of a more lasting shift?
Those questions extend beyond Fox. Cable news has spent years trying to hold on to audiences as viewers migrate to streaming and digital platforms. Fox has weathered those changes better than most, but even the industry’s dominant player isn’t immune.
The October numbers illustrate that tension. Fox News averaged 1.1 million total day viewers, compared with 588,000 for MS NOW and 402,000 for CNN. It captured 53% of the three networks’ combined audience and accounted for 99 of October’s 100 most-watched cable news telecasts. Fox News also says it’s on pace for its highest-rated midterm year in total day viewers.
In a statement to TheWrap, Fox emphasized its ratings leadership and digital reach.
Its business has shown resilience, too. Ad revenue across parent Fox Corp.’s cable programming segment, which includes sports networks, rose 10% in fiscal 2026, while distribution revenue increased 5%, according to its annual filing. Higher advertising prices and distribution fees helped offset pressure from lower ratings and declining cable subscriptions.
But those results predate October and don’t establish how Fox performed financially during the month. Nor do they explain what happened to its television audience.
One possibility is that some of Fox News’ conservative viewers are simply growing tired of political news rather than turning against the network itself, according to a former Nielsen executive.
There is some evidence of a broader pullback. A Pew Research Center study found that 36% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents followed the news all or most of the time in 2025, down from 57% in 2016. The decline among Democrats and Democratic leaners was smaller.
Meanwhile, the Reuters Institute’s 2026 Digital News Report found that 45% of Americans sometimes or often avoid the news.
Neither study explains Fox’s October decline, and Pew cautions that following news less closely doesn’t necessarily mean consuming less of it. Still, the findings raise the possibility that viewers are taking a break from the political coverage they once watched regularly.
That would be different from what happened after the 2020 presidential election, when some Trump supporters turned against Fox over its coverage, including its decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden. Newsmax temporarily benefited as dissatisfied viewers sought an alternative.
There’s no clear evidence of a similar migration today. October could simply be an unusually weak month, particularly given how sharply political-news audiences fluctuate around major events and elections.
Although MS NOW gained viewers in October, Nielsen data shows its total day audience remains 35% below October 2024, during the final weeks of the Trump-Harris presidential campaign.
Nielsen’s changing measurement system adds another wrinkle. The company refined its Big Data + Panel methodology in August, meaning the October 2025 and 2026 comparisons aren’t perfectly apples-to-apples. How much those changes affected Fox’s reported decline remains unclear.
There’s also the question of where audiences are watching. According to Emplifi, Fox News generated more than 3.8 billion YouTube video views through Oct. 27, outpacing CNN and MS NOW. Those views aren’t comparable with Nielsen’s average TV audience and don’t establish whether former cable viewers are following Fox News online. Nor does digital reach necessarily replace the revenue generated by traditional television.
Tuesday’s election coverage will offer another snapshot, but even a strong showing wouldn’t necessarily explain October’s decline or settle whether the trend will continue.
For nearly three decades, Fox News has built its business around one of television’s most loyal audiences. Its cable news lead remains substantial, but October raises a question that extends beyond Fox: How long can higher advertising prices and distribution fees offset shrinking audiences?
Fox’s recent financial results show that audience losses and revenue growth can coexist. The bigger question is how long that equation can hold as the television audience continues to fragment.
Another ‘60 Minutes’ Headache for Bari Weiss
Bari Weiss is trying to put her stamp on “60 Minutes.” But the latest controversy at CBS News shows just how complicated that can be when you’re dealing with one of television’s most established investigative programs.
According to the New York Post, Weiss and executive producer Nick Bilton were unaware that producers had agreed to leave out details of a deportee’s asylum claim from last Sunday’s investigation into the Trump administration’s deportation practices.
The segment featured Moussa Diawara, who was deported to Ghana and subsequently sent to Mali despite an earlier U.S. immigration judge’s ruling barring his removal there. The Post reported that veteran producer Andy Court agreed with Diawara’s attorney to leave out information about his sexual orientation from his immigration documents, citing concerns for his safety.
That raises a tricky editorial question: How much discretion should producers have to withhold potentially important information to protect an interview subject? And at what point does senior management need to know?
Protecting vulnerable sources is part of responsible journalism. But so is making sure editors understand what’s being left out of a story and why. For Weiss and Bilton, the bigger challenge may not be asserting their authority over “60 Minutes,” but figuring out how to exercise it without losing the newsroom’s trust.
The Regional Sports Network Squeeze
Regional sports networks spent decades collecting lucrative cable fees to carry local teams. Now that model is unraveling, even as some teams are attracting more viewers. The World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers offer one example: After MLB took over the team’s local broadcasts this season, combined television and streaming viewership increased 25%, according to the league. The number of U.S.-based MLB, NBA and NHL teams using traditional or similar RSN arrangements fell from 83 in 2022 to just 34, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Industry revenue dropped roughly 30% from its 2019 peak. Streaming is helping teams reach fans, but attracting viewers and replacing lost cable revenue are two very different things.
My full piece: Regional Sports Networks Feasted on Cable Fees. What Happens as They Dry Up?
People Inc.’s Publishing Reset
People Inc., the publisher behind People, Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure, cut 195 jobs Thursday, primarily across its print and legacy web businesses. CEO Neil Vogel said the company has also hired 320 employees this year as it invests in new initiatives. The cuts follow another 226 job eliminations last year and reflect a broader restructuring across the media industry, as publishers reduce their traditional operations while investing in new sources of growth. The challenge for Vogel is making those investments pay off while cutting costs in the businesses that built the company.
TheWrap’s coverage: People Inc. Cuts 195 Staffers Across Print and Legacy Web Brands
A Press Pass Isn’t Enough
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have regained their White House credentials, but their legal fight with the Trump administration isn’t over. The three outlets expanded their lawsuit this week, alleging that their reporters remain excluded from presidential press pools despite a federal judge’s order restoring their credentials. The administration disputes the allegations and has appealed the earlier ruling. At issue is a distinction that matters enormously to White House reporters: Having permission to enter the building doesn’t guarantee a seat aboard Air Force One or access to events in the Oval Office. The case now turns in part on how much control the administration can exercise over those limited press assignments.
My full piece: CNN, MS NOW & Politico Expand White House Lawsuit Over Press Pool Ban
The post What Caused the Ratings Decline at Fox News? appeared first on TheWrap.
