The Lead
The first week of April was not kind to many in the cable news world. However, Newsmax saw the biggest increase of anyone in the genre.
In the first week of April, Newsmax saw a 12% increase in the primetime ratings, as it jumped to just shy of 300,000 total viewers in the 8-11 PM ET timeslot.
During the week of April 7th, Newsmax saw its highest ratings for the week since the week of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on March 4th.
Additionally, Newsmax saw an even larger jump in the key Adults 25-54 demographic during the week in primetime. It finished with an average audience of 34,000 in the sector, a 47% increase compared to the previous week.
CNN and NewsNation were the only other cable networks besides Newsmax to see an increase in the primetime ratings during the week of April 7th. CNN saw its average audience size grow by just over 2%, up to 584,000. Meanwhile, NewsNation grew to 96,000 — up from 95,000 the previous week — during the first week of April. Both networks featured the slightest drops in the Adults 25-54 demographic.
In week-over-week comparisons, Fox News was down 2.5%, but still finished on top of the cable news rankings with an average of 2.7 million viewers.
MSNBC, meanwhile, also dropped just under 3%, down to 1.2 million viewers.
Both of those networks also saw declines in the key demo, with Fox News dropping just under 4% to 321,000. That marked the lowest figure in the key demographic for Fox News since the first week of 2025. Meanwhile, MSNBC fell by more than 10% to 101,000 total viewers from that category during the first week of the month.
In the total day ratings, Newsmax was the only cable news network to see growth in the total viewership category. It rose more than 5% to finish the week with an average audience of 185,000 total viewers in that sector. That bounceback came on the heels of the lowest finish of the year for the network in that category, however.
CBS Evening News Continues Slide, Under 4 Million Viewers for 2nd Straight Week
The ratings for the CBS Evening News have continued to decline since the departure of anchor Norah O’Donnell.
O’Donnell anchored her final show on Thursday, January 24th. Beginning on Monday, January 27th, the show began being anchored by John Dickerson, Maurice DuBois, with appearances by Margaret Brennan. It also featured a revamped presentation that included a more news magazine-like approach with smaller story counts and a focus on long-form storytelling and analysis.
In the weeks preceding O’Donnell’s exit, the CBS Evening News averaged 5.1 million viewers. Since O’Donnell left the show, the program has continually slid.
In February, the show averaged 4.5 million viewers. The following month, it dropped to 4.1 million.
To begin April, the program has failed to eclipse 4 million viewers on average. During the week of March 31st, the network saw 3.9 million total viewers. Most recently, that figure dropped to 3.7 million. CBS Evening News has seen a decline in each of the past four weeks.
That drop isn’t contained to the total viewership category, either. In the weeks leading up to O’Donnell’s departure, the nightly newscast averaged 726,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demographic. Last week, the show averaged 491,000 viewers from the key demo. It has only reached 600,000 viewers from that sector once since the week of President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress.
CBS News isn’t alone in seeing its nightly newscast ratings fall in recent weeks, though. ABC News’ World News Tonight saw a slight decline during the week of April 7th, down to 7.5 million viewers. NBC Nightly News also dropped just under 1.5% to 6.1 million viewers for the week.
CNBC Scores Best Week in Over 3 Years
While the volatility of the financial markets has wreaked havoc on 401ks, it has been a boost to the ratings at CNBC.
During the week of April 7th, CNBC saw its highest-rated week in more than three years. In the business day category, CNBC averaged 233,000 total viewers for the week. That category was a tight battle, as CNBC bested Fox Business Network, which featured an average audience of 221,000 viewers in that window. It marked the second consecutive week CNBC earned the top spot in the business day window.
In the key Adults 25-54 demographic, CNBC averaged 62,000 viewers from that sector. It marked the highest-rated week for the key demo since 2021.
The ratings increase for both CNBC and Fox Business Network comes on the heels of President Donald Trump announcing, and subsequently rescinding the overwhelming majority of, a new tariff plan.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
