The Lead
To begin June, Fox News was in the midst of a run of 13 straight weeks of failing to surpass 3 million total viewers in primetime, and eight straight weeks of not reaching 2.5 million viewers.
That has taken a dramatic turn in recent weeks, as the network has been rivaling some of its best performances of 2025 in the middle weeks of June.
During the week of June 16th, Fox News averaged 3.4 million viewers in the primetime hours. That’s a 9% increase in total viewers from the previous week, which was up 25% from the week of June 2nd when the network averaged 2.4 million viewers in primetime.
The finish by Fox News was its highest result in the primetime window since the week of March 3rd, which included President Donald Trump addressing a joint session of Congress in the daypart. The only other week that performed better for the network was also a week featuring a major event tied to President Trump, the week of his inauguration, when Fox News averaged 3.9 million viewers in primetime.
Similarly, it was the third-best week of the year for Fox News in the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic, behind the two aforementioned Trump-focused weeks. Last week, Fox News averaged 474,000 total viewers, a 17% jump compared to the previous week.
In the total day ratings, Fox News surpassed 2 million viewers for the first time in 13 weeks. During the week, the network featured 14 of the top 15 rated broadcasts in cable news, with The Five continuing to lead the way.
CNN Hits New 2025 High
The United States launching an offensive against nuclear sites in Iran wasn’t just a win for Fox News.
During the week of June 16th, CNN saw its highest primetime performance of 2025. An average audience of 831,000 total viewers tuned into the network throughout the week, besting the previous high — set during the prior week at 775,000 viewers.
That figure of nearly 1 million total viewers is a significant increase to where CNN had been in previous weeks. During the final week of May, the network had hit its low for the year averaging just 374,000 total viewers in the primetime window.
Additionally, the network saw a large increase in the Adults 25-54 demographic. CNN’s in-demo audience grew by 25% during the week of June 16th compared to the previous week, up to 208,000 viewers from that sector. That 208,000 figure is the highest non-Fox News figure compiled by a cable news network in that category in 2025.
NBC Nightly News Sees Bounceback During 3rd Week of Tom Llamas Era
Earlier this month, we noted that NBC News had seen a slight dip in the nightly newscast ratings after the departure of Lester Holt.
But unlike the situation CBS News has encountered — with their figures dropping drastically after Norah O’Donnell vacated the anchor chair in January — NBC News has seen an almost immediate bounceback after the first week of the Tom Llamas era for the venerable newscast.
During the week of June 16th, NBC Nightly News averaged 5.7 million viewers. That equals the performance of the final two weeks of Holt’s tenure leading the newscast, when rounded to the nearest 100,000.
When Llamas took over, NBC News saw an immediate drop of 4.7% in total audience compared to the previous week. That raised concerns after featuring a larger immediate drop off than what CBS Evening News featured in the wake of O’Donnell’s departure due to that network’s newscast falling to under 4 million viewers during the first month of April, which it failed to recover from until hitting 4.2 million during the week of June 9th.
Despite the increase in viewership for NBC Nightly News, it remained in second place behind ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, which finished with just under 7.5 million total viewers for the week. Of those 7.5 million viewers, just over 1 million came for the key Adults 25-54 demographics. CBS News saw a slight decline in overall viewership during the week, down to 4 million total viewers.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
