Cable News Ratings Reveal a Major Shakeup at Fox News, CNN and MS NOW

New cable news ratings are out for the week of May 11, and the numbers are turning heads.

According to AdWeek, which cited Nielsen data, the numbers tell a story of major change across the board.

Fox News topped primetime with 2.282 million total viewers and 202,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic, though the network was down 8 percent in total viewers and 9 percent in the demo from the previous week.

Fox News averaged 1.465 million total viewers and 142,000 demo viewers during the total day, down 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Looking back a full year, the drops were harder to ignore.

Compared to the same week in 2025, Fox News was down 9 percent in primetime total viewers and 28 percent in the demo, the only major cable news network to fall in both categories year over year.

MS NOW averaged 903,000 primetime total viewers and 87,000 demo viewers, down 7 percent and 4 percent week over week. Year over year, however, the network was up 11 percent in primetime total viewers and 30 percent in the demo.

CNN drew 661,000 primetime total viewers and 104,000 demo viewers, down 3 percent and 17 percent from the week before.

But year over year, CNN posted the biggest gains of the three, with primetime total viewers up 63 percent and the demo up 41 percent.

As per Adweek, Fox News still dominated the top 15 most-watched cable shows, claiming 14 of the 15 spots.

The Five led with 3.373 million total viewers at 5 p.m. ET. MS NOW’s The Rachel Maddow Show was the only non-Fox News show in the top 15, averaging 1.942 million total viewers at 9 p.m. ET.