The May cable news ratings period has concluded. Fox News, as has become tradition, was on top of the overall landscape.
What We Know: Fox News finished the month as the top cable network in both primetime and total day ratings. It also finished May as the highest-rated May during a midterm election year in its history. The Five remained the top-rated show in all of cable news. It finished the month with 3.6 million viewers on average. Jesse Watters Primetime was second with an average of 3.1 million viewers. The top show for MS NOW during the month was The Rachel Maddow Show, which earned an average of 2 million viewers. Erin Burnett OutFront led CNN with 738,000 total viewers. Newsmax was led by Rob Schmitt Tonight‘s average audience of 320,000. NewsNation’s top program was Cuomo, with 235,000 total viewers.
What the Numbers Show:
May 2026 Cable News Primetime Total Viewership
| Network | May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Fox News | 2.4M |
| MS NOW | 942K |
| CNN | 633K |
| Newsmax | 194K |
| NewsNation | 146K |
May 2026 vs. April 2026 Cable News Primetime Total Viewership
| Network | May 2026 | April 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 2.4M | 3.2M | ▼ -25.6% |
| MS NOW | 942K | 1.5M | ▼ -37.2% |
| CNN | 633K | 929K | ▼ -31.9% |
| Newsmax | 194K | 230K | ▼ -15.7% |
| NewsNation | 146K | 192K | ▼ -24.0% |
May 2026 vs. May 2025 Cable News Primetime Total Viewership
| Network | May 2026 | May 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 2.4M | 2.4M | ▼ -1.4% |
| MS NOW | 942K | 803K | ▲ +17.3% |
| CNN | 633K | 405K | ▲ +56.3% |
What Remains Unclear: We don’t know what led to the ratings downturn in May compared to the prior month. It is also unclear how the changes in Nielsen measurement affected the overall ratings from May 2025 to May 2026.
What It Means: Despite the month-over-month declines, the news is still largely positive for Fox News. The figures are also very positive for MS NOW and CNN compared to the prior year. However, the dominance of Fox News is on display in those numbers. The fact that it more than doubles the next closest competitor can’t be overlooked.
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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.
