Fox News leads in October, but CNN and MSNBC gain year-over-year viewers in a month dominated by coverage of Israel and Gaza

Fox News led all cable news networks again in October, but only CNN and MSNBC gained more viewers than last year as coverage of Israel and Gaza and the House riots dominated the news cycle.

In primetime, Fox News averaged 2.12 million viewers, down 7% from October 2022. MSNBC had 1.33 million viewers, up 12%, and CNN had 722,000 viewers, up 16%. In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 256,000, down 13%, while CNN averaged 167,000, up 25%, and MSNBC averaged 132,000, 16%.

For the day, Fox News averaged 1.36 million, down 8%, followed by MSNBC with 895,000, up 19%, and CNN with 600,000, up 12%. In the adults 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 174,000, down 15%, while CNN averaged 124,000, up 17%, and MSNBC averaged 98,000, up 17% from 23%.

Ratings come from Nielsen via Fox News.

Fox News’ The five was once again the most-watched cable news program with 3 million viewers, followed by Jesse Watters Primetime with 2.58 million, Hannity with 2.41 million, Special report with 2.21 million and The Ingraham Corner with 2.17 million.

In adults aged 25-54 The five an average of 316,000, followed by Hannity with 300,000, Gutfeld! with 292,000, Jesse Watters Primetime with 270,000 and The Ingraham Corner with 244,000.

The Rachel Maddow Showthat aired Monday averaged 2.5 million viewers per MSNBC.

With an extended breaking news cycle, each of the networks announced relative victories. Fox News found that its primetime viewership was higher than CNN and MSNBC combined. MSNBC cited the increase in daily viewership, while CNN said its total daily viewership was the best since March 2022 and had the largest month-over-month percentage increase compared to its competitors.

NewsNation, meanwhile, said it averaged 118,000 viewers in weekday primetime, up 23% from last year, and 22,000 in the 25-54 demographic, up 38%. The broadcaster also said the last week of the month was its highest-rated week ever, averaging 67,000 viewers and 13,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic.