The executives at Fox News learned this week they’re no longer the king of cable news ratings for conservative viewers.
On Monday, Newsmax officially overtook Fox News at the 7:00 pm primetime slot for the first time ever.
“We’re here to stay,” Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy told CNN on Tuesday. “The ratings are showing that.”
“Greg Kelly Reports,” which airs at the 7:00pm hour, overtook Fox News’ “The Story with Martha McCallum” in the critical 25- to 54-year-old demographic this week — a remarkable turnaround in ratings since the 2020 election.
Before the election, “Greg Kelly Reports” had approximately 10,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic that is critical for advertising dollars. Now, just one month later, the show is the third highest-rated 7:00 pm cable news program that attracts nearly a million total viewers on a good night.
Fox News angered President Donald Trump and his supporters during the election by calling Arizona prematurely for challenger Joe Biden. In response, the president called on supporters to boycott the previously supportive Fox News — and the viewers have responded.
It’s not just the 7:00 pm timeslot that Newsmax has seen success over its conservative rival network. According to Nielsen, Newsmax has also begun to regularly beat Fox Business in ratings.
Fox Corporation’s chief financial officer, Steve Tomsic, dismissed the surprising departure of viewers.
“I think when people think about competition, they sort of, their knee jerk reaction is to think, ‘Well, all we need is two or three talking heads to go head to head with ours.’ The business is much bigger than that,” he said in a conference call Tuesday.
Fox News “has stood the test of time, and every time there’s been skepticism about what the future looks like, we’ve pierced through and hit another high.”
“So, we feel super confident about Fox News being able to compete in any environment going forward,” Tomsic said.
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