Below are the cable news ratings for the third quarter of 2024.
The period from July to the end of September was busy for news. Calls for President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee grew louder after his disastrous performance during CNN’s presidential debate between him and former President Donald Trump.
Plus, Trump was the target of an assassination attempt days before the start of the 2024 Republican National Convention, J.D. Vance was named the GOP vice-presidential candidate, and Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee for the Democrats after President Biden announced he would not seek a second term of the presidency,
Following the Harris announcement, Tim Walz was named the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, with the 2024 Democratic National Convention taking place soon after.
But that’s not all. Harris and Trump participated in a much-hyped presidential debate hosted by ABC News, a second assassination attempt against Trump was thwarted before it even began, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continued, and Hurricane Helene battered the Southeast region of the United States.
It’s safe to say all this political, war, and weather news boosted the three cable news networks to viewership highs they had not seen in a long time.
Fox News led the way as it had the second-highest third quarter in its history, MSNBC had its highest-rated quarter in three years, and CNN had its best quarter on TV in over two years among total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.
With a consequential presidential election and its after-effects occurring in the fourth quarter, the cable news networks will likely see a more engaged and better-performing second half of 2024 than the first half.
Fox News Channel
Fox News averaged 2.725 million total primetime viewers in Q3 2024. That’s up +30% from the previous quarter. The network was up +62% in the primetime demo with 367,000 viewers. During total day, Fox News had 1.571 million total viewers, up +20% from the previous quarter, and 215,000 demo viewers, up +40% from Q2 2024.
When looking at Fox News’ performance in the same quarter in 2023, it was up +56% in total viewers and +91% in the demo during primetime. Looking at total day, the network was up +43% and +63% in total viewers and the demo, respectively.
According to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News’ rule at the top of cable news has now stretched to 91 consecutive quarters.
