The second-quarter ratings of 2025 have landed, and they paint a picture that is less a competitive race and more a massacre. According to Nielsen data reported by AdWeek, Fox News has not only secured the top spot but has claimed 14 of the top 15 cable news programs. Fourteen. Out of fifteen.
For Fox, it is not simply another quarter of dominance — it is a monopoly in all but name. For MSNBC and CNN, it is humiliation on a grand scale.
The most startling revelation? One Fox anchor managed to seize both the #1 and #2 slots in the rankings, a feat so extraordinary it feels almost cartoonish in its disproportionality. That anchor is Jesse Watters, once considered a protégé of Bill O’Reilly, now the face of Fox News’ near-total ratings stranglehold.
The Big Five: Fox’s Ratings Killers
Fox’s supremacy is not the product of a single breakout star. It is an ecosystem, carefully cultivated, where each program feeds into the next, ensuring audiences remain glued to the channel throughout the day.
#1 — The Five (3.851M viewers)
At 5 p.m., The Five has become Fox’s crown jewel. The formula is deceptively simple: five personalities, clashing perspectives, and unrelenting energy. Greg Gutfeld’s barbed humor, Dana Perino’s establishment steadiness, Jesse Watters’ cheeky provocations, Jessica Tarlov’s liberal pushback, and Harold Ford Jr.’s centrist calm create a combustible mix that keeps viewers riveted.
#2 — Jesse Watters Primetime (3.431M viewers)
The breakout star of Fox’s lineup, Jesse Watters now commands his own primetime slot with over 3.4 million viewers. His mix of sharp commentary, viral ambush-style interviews, and a knack for triggering liberal outrage has cemented his role as Fox’s new power player.
#3 — Gutfeld! (3.009M viewers)
What began as an experiment has become a late-night revolution. Greg Gutfeld’s offbeat, booze-infused panel show outdraws traditional late-night giants Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and even Stephen Colbert’s now-canceled Late Show. With over 3 million viewers, Gutfeld has proven that comedy rooted in cultural mockery resonates more deeply than Hollywood polish.
#4 — Hannity (3.006M viewers)
Sean Hannity remains a stalwart presence. Though no longer the unrivaled star he once was, his nightly audience of 3 million is proof of his enduring bond with Fox’s conservative base.
#5 — Special Report with Bret Baier (2.888M viewers)
Baier’s straight-faced delivery anchors Fox’s credibility. To critics, his show is propaganda in disguise. To loyal viewers, it is trusted hard news. Nearly 2.9 million tune in nightly, proving that Fox’s dominance is not merely about personality but also about cultivating a perception of authority.
The Rest of Fox’s Juggernaut
The numbers continue down the schedule like a drumbeat of supremacy:
-
The Ingraham Angle (2.749M) — Laura Ingraham’s nightly skewering of “woke culture.”
-
The Will Cain Show (2.168M) — A rising star, Cain brings a sports-bro energy that appeals to younger conservatives.
-
Outnumbered (2.045M) — Midday fireworks as four conservative women face off against a token male guest.
-
The Faulkner Focus (1.945M) — Harris Faulkner continues her reign in hard news.
-
America’s Newsroom (1.941M) — Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer hold mornings steady.
-
America Reports (1.938M) — John Roberts and Sandra Smith keep afternoons humming.
-
The Story with Martha MacCallum (1.913M) — Steady, reliable, and still strong.
-
Fox News at Night (1.682M) — Late-night wrap-up for Fox loyalists.
-
Fox & Friends (1.411M) — The morning zoo crew remains a cultural fixture.
From dawn until midnight, Fox owns the clock.
MSNBC: Maddow’s Lone Lifeline
The only non-Fox show to crack the top 15 is The Rachel Maddow Show, which sits at #9 with just over 2 million viewers.
The irony is sharp: Maddow now only appears on Mondays, yet her single weekly broadcast outdraws CNN’s entire primetime lineup. Her absence the rest of the week leaves MSNBC scrambling. Without her, the network looks hollow, with primetime figures barely registering compared to Fox’s juggernaut numbers.
CNN: Circling the Drain
If MSNBC is limping, CNN is drowning.
Its highest-rated program, Erin Burnett OutFront, managed just 610,000 viewers — not even a third of Maddow’s Monday audience, and less than one-sixth of Jesse Watters’ primetime numbers.
Fox’s lowest-rated top 15 program (Fox & Friends, with 1.4 million) more than doubles CNN’s best.
Once branding itself as “the most trusted name in news,” CNN is now struggling to stay relevant. Its decline has become a running punchline in media circles, a cautionary tale of corporate drift and audience alienation.
The Structural Advantage: Why Fox Wins
Fox’s dominance is not merely a matter of content; it is a carefully engineered structure that feeds on loyalty and cultural combat.
-
Personality-Driven Anchors
Fox invests in memorable, often polarizing figures — from Jesse Watters to Greg Gutfeld. MSNBC and CNN rely more on institutional credibility, but Fox understands modern audiences crave personality over neutrality. -
The Culture War Machine
Fox thrives on conflict. Every night is framed as a battle against “woke elites,” Hollywood, or mainstream media bias. Outrage is not a bug; it is the feature. -
Audience Loyalty
Fox’s viewers are not casual. They rarely flip channels. This stability translates into consistent, wall-to-wall dominance across time slots. -
Programming Ecosystem
From Fox & Friends in the morning to Gutfeld! late at night, Fox has built a seamless pipeline. Viewers can spend their entire day within the Fox bubble.
The Numbers Behind the Numbers
Fox’s Q2 2025 primetime average was 2.633 million — a 13% dip from Q1. Its total-day average was 1.632 million, down 15% from the previous quarter. Yet year-over-year, Fox is up 25% in both categories.
MSNBC was the only other network to avoid losses quarter-to-quarter. CNN, meanwhile, continues to hemorrhage viewers.
Even when Fox slips, it remains untouchable.
The Historical Context
Cable news has always been competitive, but never this lopsided.
-
In the early 2000s, Fox overtook CNN to become the ratings leader, riding the post-9/11 wave of conservative sentiment.
-
During the Obama years, MSNBC surged, positioning itself as the liberal alternative.
-
Under Trump, Fox cemented its dominance while MSNBC briefly surged with Maddow’s nightly investigations.
-
Today, with Trump once again a central figure in American politics, Fox has leveraged both outrage and loyalty to create a monopoly-like hold on the cable news market.
The Maddow Factor: Can One Anchor Save MSNBC?
Rachel Maddow’s unique influence underscores both MSNBC’s strength and weakness. Her Monday-night show is powerful, but her absence the rest of the week leaves a gaping hole.
No other MSNBC host has managed to match her cultural clout or ratings pull. The network risks becoming a one-woman operation, with Maddow as both its crown jewel and its Achilles heel.
CNN’s Identity Crisis
CNN’s collapse is more complex. Internal upheaval, shifting strategies, and corporate ownership changes have left the network rudderless.
Attempts to reinvent itself — from digital-first ventures to flirtations with streaming platforms — have yet to bear fruit. Its anchors lack the star power of Fox or Maddow, and its branding as “down the middle” no longer resonates in a hyper-polarized environment.
Streaming and the Future of News
Fox’s dominance raises broader questions about the future of cable news itself. Younger audiences increasingly turn to streaming and social media for information. Free, ad-supported services like Tubi and Pluto TV have siphoned off viewers.
Yet Fox has managed to extend its brand into streaming through Fox Nation, offering exclusive content to paying subscribers. By contrast, CNN+ collapsed within weeks of its launch, a public relations disaster that epitomized the network’s struggles.
The Bottom Line
The Q2 2025 cable news ratings confirm what insiders already knew: Fox News is not just winning — it has obliterated the competition. With Jesse Watters anchoring both the #1 and #2 shows, Greg Gutfeld rewriting the late-night rulebook, and stalwarts like Hannity and Baier providing stability, Fox has built an empire.
MSNBC survives on Rachel Maddow’s weekly lifeline, but her absence the rest of the week leaves the network exposed. CNN, meanwhile, is a shadow of its former self, with ratings so anemic they barely register against Fox’s weakest programs.
Cable news may once have been a battlefield. Today, it is Fox News’ kingdom. Unless something seismic shifts in the industry, Q3 might not even be a contest worth watching.