For the last two decades, Fox News has dominated the 24 hour news industry, and for a good reason: They know their audience — Republicans — and they know how to keep them angry. But it looks like they may lose their place atop the food chain: According to Forbes, the news network has lost 20 percent of their audience, a plummet so steep that they rank third, behind CNN and MSNBC, for the first time in 20 years.
As per Forbes:
Over the first full week of 2021 (Jan. 4 through Jan. 10), CNN ranked firstamong cable networks (roughly 2.8 million viewers per day; 4.2 million in primetime) followed by MSNBC (2.3 million per day ;3.8 million in primetime) and Fox News in third (1.7 million per day; 3.2 million in primetime).
Over the first two weeks of 2021, Fox averaged nearly 800,000 fewer total day viewers than MSNBC, and around 1 million fewer than CNN, according toMediate, and every day since Jan. 4, Fox has trailed both MSNBC and CNN in the crucial age 25-54 demographic.
There’s a good reason for their fall: They’ve enraged Donald Trump by not being sufficiently loyal, and so his die hard base has turned on them as well. Before he was permanently banned on Twitter and other social media sites, the outgoing Republican president had tweeted at them with increasing hostility, especially once they formally acknowledged that his rival, Joe Biden, had thwarted his hopes for re-election. Some of their regular viewers instead found solace in two even more pro-Trump networks: Newsmax and OAN, though both gotten into legal trouble after frequently airing baseless accusations about Dominion voting machines.
Mind you, Fox News’ relatively low turnout in the ratings isn’t only due to angry Trump supporters. CNN had its most-watched day on January 6, when a mob of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol, leading to five deaths. Meanwhile, there’s still a chance Fox News may face even stiffer competition, should Trump ever get that threatened rival news station going — provided he has any money left after his many lenders finally come to collect.
(Via Forbes)