Fox News, or “News’ has had a good run with their Fox News (cable) Channel. Built by Roger Ailes to be a conservative news outlet it has been wired into GOP politics and GOP White Houses. Their audience morphed from Tea Party types to MAGAs when Trump came along and he’s been ratings gold. There are other right-wing news outlets but Fox is the MAGA gold standard, and in general conservatives tune in and MAGAs in particular. However the declining numbers of people and their relative lack of enthusiasm as the year has gone on has been noticeable. Maybe MAGAs aren’t dutifully getting their ‘Fix from Fox’ because they aren’t interested in Fox trying to pump Trump up.
It’s an intriguing notion, and one Raw Story examines in this article. They provide recent ratings and in the context of this not appearing to be some blip on the radar but what their headline calls an ‘eye-popping decline as audience loses interest in Trump.’ That headline sure got MY attention. It seemed worth wading through some data that surely Raw Story would provide to back up that headline and sure enough the loss of viewership over this time last year is no mere dip, but a step off the ledge:
According to the media newsletter Status, which obtained Nielsen ratings ahead of their release Wednesday, October 2026 will be Fox News’ lowest-rated month since December 2023.
Ahead of closely-watched midterms like the 2026 contest, networks would normally be expected to gain viewers as audiences tune in for coverage of consequential races, the report noted.
Among viewers ages 25 to 54, the demographic advertisers covet most, “the picture is even worse.” Fox News is set to post its lowest-rated month in that group in 25 years, averaging just 98,000 viewers. That’s a 27% drop in total viewers from last October and a 32% plunge in the 25-54 demo. Fox News still dominates cable overall, even beating ESPN in total day despite the return of football, but the declines stand out “given the political moment.”
As I said that kind of drop is ‘bigly.’ As the linked article notes Fox knows better than most what pulls viewers and what doesn’t, which explains why they often cut away from Trump when he’s speaking live at some event. We’ve seen the empty seats in far smaller arenas than Trump used to pack to the rafters. We’ve also seen video of people getting bored and walking out long before Trump is done speechifying. It seems Fox has determined the same thing is going on with its viewers! The article contains more information including something I was particularly curious about – the weekday evening “Opinion News” (as Fox calls it) bloc of Ingraham, Watters and Hannity I like to call the Three Hour White Power Hour. Yep, their ratings have also nosedived:
Weekday prime time show numbers hosted by mainstays Sean Hannityity and Laura Ingraham are just as bleak. According to Status, the Rupert Murdoch-controlled network is set for its lowest-rated prime-time month in both total viewers and the 25-54 demo since December 2023.
It gets better, or worse depending on your perspective. You’re probably wondering about the KURVY Kouch – Fox’s morning show which he likes calling in to. That’s right folks. That show has taken a big ratings hit too:
Darcy noted, “Trump’s favorite morning show, ‘Fox & Friends,’ is also struggling. October will mark Fox News’ second straight month with less than 1 million total viewers between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. It will also mark the second consecutive month with less than 100,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo. The numbers make October 2026 the show’s lowest-rated month among total viewers in more than 11 years, since July 2015.”
I don’t know about you but between the rallies and Fox’s clear decline in viewership it looks like Democrats are headed into the midterms with a big advantage when it comes to voter enthusiasm. Look at it this way: If Fox’s traditional viewers are far less inclined to sit on the couch and click over to their network because they just aren’t as interested in Trump anymore, how willing are they to go to the trouble of voting?
Granted, I might be getting out over my skis here but like politicians, major news outlets do their own internal look at things. Given the incestuous relationship between Fox and Trump’s White House (it’s almost Trump’s HR department) two things seem to be in play. Fox has seen for a while now they’ve lost a lot of audience, and they also know why. (Remember when I noted Trump isn’t the ratings draw he used to be?) There’s no doubting that this has all been privately communicated to Trump. It would help explain why so much effort is being made to discredit the election results even before the voting is done!
Well, we won’t have to wait long to find out. For our part we need to make the hardest what in track & field is called a finishing kick – sprint as hard as we can to and past the finish line. Early voting suggests enthusiasm on our side is high. I hope news that Fox’s viewers are discouraged makes us even more enthusiastic not only to vote, but convince others to do so. Crudely put, Trump and the GOP are down and by grab we should do what they would do if the situation was reversed – kick the hell out of them while they’re down!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
Fox ‘News’ failing, is a suitable prelude to bringing back ‘The Fairness Doctrine’, and the idea that reporting truth matters more than reporting opinions about it. It looks like actual truth and actual facts are going to mean much more now RWNJ media has destroyed their own credibility with their constant lies. Who could be surprised that people don’t want to watch constant lies, mistruths and spin, when they are obviously so, when real truth and real facts are available everywhere else.