As it approaches its 20th anniversary, Fox News Channel is in the midst of its most-watched year ever.
With the first half of 2016 now wrapped up, Fox News ranks as the No. 1 basic cable channel in prime time, averaging 2.2 million viewers. In the just-completed second quarter, Fox News was No. 2 behind only TNT. The network grew double digits vs. Q2 2015: up +18 percent in total day viewers, and up +23 percent in prime time.
Below are the network’s average live+ same day impressions for Q2 2016 (Nielsen data):
- Prime time (Mon-Sun): 1,972,000 total viewers / 352,000 A25-54
- Total Day (Mon-Sun): 1,151,000 total viewers / 216,000 A25-54
The O’Reilly Factor, which has been the most-watched cable news program for 65 straight quarters (since Q1 2000) was up +19 percent in total viewers and up +10 percent in the A25-54 demo. Megyn Kelly, cable’s No. 2 show, was up +14 percent in viewers and up 8 percent in the demo. But Hannity is the big growth story, up +41 percent in viewers and up +35 percent in the demo. Bret Baier was up +8 percent in viewers and up +14 percent in the demo and Greta Van Susteren was up +8 percent and +5 percent, respectively.
Fox News had 9 of the top 10 most-watched shows in Q2, with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow coming in at No. 10.