As the white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel, signifying the election of Pope Leo XIV, millions tuned to cable news to watch the coverage. Fox News led the way in that ratings surge.
The word began to disseminate that a pope had been elected just after noon ET on Thursday, May 8th. At roughly 1:15 PM ET, Pope Leo XIV, previously Cardinal Robert Prevost — who was born in Chicago and went to college in Philadelphia — was announced as the first American pope in history.
During the 1 PM ET hour, Fox News averaged 3.7 million viewers. That figure represents an increase of 63% compared to the audience seen during the 11 AM ET hour.
Fox News was well ahead of challengers CNN and MSNBC during those two hours.
However, CNN saw the largest uptick in audience by percentage. During the 11 AM hour, before the news of the naming of a new pope had commenced, CNN was averaging 514,000 viewers. At noon, that figure jumped to just over 1 million viewers, before rising to just shy of 1.5 million viewers from 1-2 PM ET. That represents a 191% increase for those two hours.
During the block, MSNBC went from 416,000 total viewers at 11 AM to 974,000 from 1-2 PM ET. That is an increase of 134%.
In the timeframe of the announcement, Fox News also saw a large lead in the Adults 25-54 demographic. It featured 499,000 and 667,000 viewers from that sector during the 12 PM and 1 PM ET hours on that day. CNN saw 177,000 and 326,000 key demo viewers during that window, while MSNBC saw 75,000 and 127,000 respectively.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
