Fox News Ratings Sink Since Donald Trump’s Loss, Falling Behind CNN & MSNBC For First Time In 20 Years
Fox News has reportedly seen its ratings sink since Donald Trump’s loss in the November election, with the network falling behind its main competitors for the first time in nearly two decades.
As Forbes reported, ratings at Fox News have fallen by close to 20 percent compared to numbers before November. Prior to that point, the network achieved its highest-ever ratings as a record number of Americans tuned in to watch coverage of the 2020 presidential campaign.
That changed after Trump lost to Joe Biden, the report noted, and now Fox News finds itself in an unfamiliar place — the No. 3 spot among cable outlets. For the first full week of 2021, CNN ranked first with close to 2.8 million viewers per day, with MSNBC close behind. Fox News was in third with 1.7 million per day.
The report cited a Mediate story from television analyst Colby Hall that said there have been a series of events drawing viewers away from Fox News and over to its competitors.
“Even folks at Fox News conceded privately to me that the last year’s cycle was a perfect storm of news for CNN and, to a lesser extent, MSNBC,” he wrote. “A historic impeachment was followed by a historic pandemic. Then came a presidential election lost by their viewers’ preferred candidate. Then came an armed insurrection incited by that candidate, the law and order candidate, leading to his second impeachment. All perfect fodder for CNN and MSNBC.”
As The Inquisitr reported, the relationship between Trump and Fox News has soured as well. Though the company had given largely favorable coverage throughout his presidency, Trump often lashed out at the more critical reporting and even started recommending that his supporters instead turn to newer outlets that were more loyal to him.
In the closing weeks of the campaign, anchor Howard Kurtz took to the air to publicly praise colleague Jennifer Griffin after Trump had called for her to be fired. Griffin had corroborated reporting that claimed Trump made disparaging remarks about fallen American soldiers, making her a target for the president. Kurtz called her one of the “fairest, most conscientious” journalists in the world, noting that she was a former war correspondent.
Trump had also reportedly grown angry with Fox News for calling the state of Arizona for Biden early on election night, which reports claim threw a wrench in his plans to prematurely declare victory if it looked like he was leading at any point.
