A news-packed January has had a major impact across cable news, with CNN and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) posting significant gains in both total viewers and the key 25-54 demographic.
This month has seen several significant news stories, including the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Trump’s ongoing pursuit of Greenland, and the fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
The news-heavy month was a boost to MS NOW, which, according to Nielsen ratings, averaged 887,000 total viewers in primetime, up 20 percent from the same period last year. The newly rebranded network was also up 21 percent in the key demo, averaging 76,000 viewers.
CNN saw similar gains, averaging 660,000 total viewers in primetime, up 26 percent from the same period in 2025. In the 25-54 demo, CNN averaged 135,000 viewers, up 14 percent from last year.
Despite the increases, MS NOW and CNN still trailed Fox News, which dominated primetime with an average of 2.05 million viewers and 197,000 demo viewers. However, Fox was down in both metrics (26 percent in total viewers and 14 percent in the demo) compared to 2025.
January 2025 was dominated by Trump’s inauguration, which gave Fox News a big boost while its rivals fell.
It was a similar story across total day, with Fox News leading the pack with an average of 1.45 million (down 24 percent) and 143,000 key demo viewers (down 43 percent).
MS NOW averaged 589,000 viewers across total day (up 16 percent) and 55,000 demo viewers (up 22 percent). Meanwhile, CNN averaged 510,000 total viewers (up 21 percent) and 96,000 demo viewers (up 20 percent).
Fox News also led with the most-watched shows, with The Five maintaining the top spot with 3.73 million viewers. Jesse Watters Primetime finished second with 3.01 million, followed by Gutfeld! with 2.76 million, Special Report with 2.71 million, and The Ingraham Angle with 2.54 million.
The Rachel Maddow Show remained MS NOW’s top-rated show, averaging 1.88 million viewers, while CNN’s most-watched program was CNN Newsroom, averaging 730,000 viewers.
Across other networks, Rob Schmitt Tonight was the top program for Newsmax, averaging 345,000 viewers. And NewsNation was topped by Cuomo with 188,000 viewers.
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