Fox News continued to dominate cable news ratings in August, led by the month’s top-rated program, The Five. CNN, meanwhile, saw another promising month of growth.
What We Know: The Five remained cable news’ most-watched show in August. The Fox News program averaged 3.3 million total viewers during the month. Meanwhile, Fox News swept the top six positions among individual programs. MS NOW’s The Rachel Maddow Show followed in seventh place. CNN’s strongest performer was NewsNight with Abby Phillip, which averaged 725,000 viewers. That performance placed the program 24th overall.
What The Numbers Show:
Primetime — August 2026 vs. August 2025
| Network | August 2026 | August 2025 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 2.1M | 2.3M | ▼ 8.7% |
| MS NOW | 940K | 790K | ▲ 19.0% |
| CNN | 624K | 430K | ▲ 45.1% |
| Newsmax | 175K | 193K | ▼ 9.3% |
| NewsNation | 122K | 97K | ▲ 25.8% |
Total Day — August 2026 vs. August 2025
| Network | August 2026 | August 2025 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 1.4M | 1.5M | ▼ 6.7% |
| MS NOW | 597K | 507K | ▲ 17.8% |
| CNN | 437K | 332K | ▲ 31.6% |
| Newsmax | 114K | 137K | ▼ 16.8% |
| NewsNation | 59K | 50K | ▲ 18.0% |
Primetime — August 2026 vs. July 2026
| Network | August 2026 | July 2026 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 2.1M | 2.3M | ▼ 8.7% |
| MS NOW | 940K | 1.0M | ▼ 6.0% |
| CNN | 624K | 658K | ▼ 5.2% |
| Newsmax | 175K | 202K | ▼ 13.4% |
| NewsNation | 122K | 141K | ▼ 13.5% |
Total Day — August 2026 vs. July 2026
| Network | August 2026 | July 2026 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 1.4M | 1.5M | ▼ 6.7% |
| MS NOW | 597K | 633K | ▼ 5.7% |
| CNN | 437K | 463K | ▼ 5.6% |
| Newsmax | 114K | 126K | ▼ 9.5% |
| NewsNation | 59K | 68K | ▼ 13.2% |
What Remains Unclear: August’s year-over-year gains for MS NOW, CNN, and NewsNation stand out. However, every major cable news network declined from July in both primetime and total day. The monthly declines suggest seasonal viewing patterns may have influenced August results. Still, the individual-program rankings show Fox News maintaining a substantial advantage.
What It Means: Fox News remains the clear leader across cable news, particularly at the program level. At the same time, CNN and MS NOW continue to post stronger year-over-year growth than Fox News. NewsNation also gained ground compared with August 2025. Nevertheless, Fox News’ ability to occupy the top six program slots reinforces its dominant position with viewers.
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