TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, JAN 17, 2021 - 18:15 ZERO HEDGE
Before the 2020 election, Fox News was dominating its cable rivals - in large part due to Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, whose pro-Trump messaging and coverage of the Russiagate and Biden scandals helped lead the network to its #1 ratings spot for several years.
Then, after host Chris Wallace 'moderated' the first Presidential debate by overtly protecting Joe Biden while attacking Trump, the network's establishment bias upstaged even their ratings darlings. Disgusted MAGA viewers began turning to alternatives such as One America News and Newsmax for pro-Trump coverage after Fox made clear where they stand.
According to the Daily Beast, Fox News' ratings have plummeted - as the network finished third to both CNN and MSNBC in the ratings on Friday for the third straight day, their poorest showing since September 2000.
On Wednesday, CNN averaged 5.941 million total viewers and 2.074 million in the key 25-54 demographic for the entire day, compared to MSNBC’s 4.543 million viewers overall and 1.106 million demo audience and Fox News’ total audience of 3.464 millionand 852,000 in the demo.
The disparity increased on Thursday, with CNN drawing 3.854 million total viewers, MSNBC averaging 3.321 million, and Fox pulling in 1.935 million for the day. CNN also led in the demo, nabbing 1.193 million with MSNBC finishing second at 653,000 and Fox bringing in the rear at 384,000.
The streak continued on Friday as CNN finished first once again with 3.121 million total viewers, followed by MSNBC’s 2.816 million and FNC’s 1.702 million. In the total day demo, CNN drew 878,000 viewers, compared to MSNBC’s 512,000 and Fox News’ 320,000. MSNBC, meanwhile, experienced its highest-rated week ever, averaging a total of 3.1 million viewers. -Daily Beast
Fox is trying to salvage their ratings disaster. Last Monday they announced a massive overhaul of its daytime and early primetime weekday lineup - shifting Martha MacCallum from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m., and moving anchors Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer out of their early afternoon broadcasts for a co-anchored segment from 9-11 a.m. with a rebooted America's Newsroom.