Numbers Equal Ratings: Is the Conservative Audience Leaving Fox News?

During the presidency of Donald J. Trump, Fox News was the number one news source on cable television. The network had high ratings from a loyal viewership that no other cable news network could even touch, including CNN and MSNBC combined. Now it appears those viewers have gone somewhere else for their news and information.

What happened? The first nail in the coffin may have occurred on election evening when Fox News decided to call the state of Arizona very early for Biden while some voters were still standing in line, according to thegatewaypundit.com. The network's early call angered many Trump supporters. The Arizona outcome remains one of the closest in the country with Biden holding a mere 10,500 vote lead out of 3.3 million votes.

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Then on Monday, the network's ratings were released and it showed their audience has gone somewhere else. Justin Baragona, a contributing editor to The Daily Beast shared the news of the ratings with his Twitter audience.

"On Friday, CNN beat Fox News in the key 25-54 demographic in every single hour from 9 AM to 11 PM," he wrote. "That includes Anderson Cooper topping Tucker in the demo at 8 PM. At 7 PM, Fox's woes continued as Erin Burnett more than doubled The Story in the demo (563,000 to 253,000)."

In a second tweet, Baragona reported, "CNN also beat Fox News across the board in daytime (9 AM to 4 PM), finishing first in both the key 25-54 demo (382,000) and total viewers (1.719 mill). Fox News finished third in total viewers (1.511 mill), just behind the 1.528 mill from MSNBC."

However, Fox News remains number one in primetime with Tucker Carlson still drawing more than 3.6 million viewers on a Friday night, Baragona added. 

Audience ratings that matter to advertisers are averaged out over a one-year period.  A one-day snapshot of viewership could offer a glimpse into audience erosion, but such stats have to be taken with a grain of salt. According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News is up 70 percent in primetime with adults 25-54 and up 45% in total viewers when looking at 11/4/20 to date vs. 11/6/19 same time period last year. (Monday thru Sunday)  Since Memorial Day, the Fox News Channel has been the highest-rated television network in primetime.

The network's ratings troubles seem to have also followed it to YouTube, where its conservative audience has also declined, even though it is one of the social video sharing platform's promoted sources, according to the New York Times. 

None of this means that former Fox News viewers are heading to CNN, which has been very anti-Trump. Since the election, President Trump has taken quite a few shots at Fox News, and he's promoted other conservative outlets that acknowledge the election is still in dispute in the court system.

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