In the crucial Adults 25-54 demographic, the rankings told a similar story of Fox News dominance tempered by specific wins for the competition. The Five remained in the pole position for the demo, averaging 270,000 viewers. Fox News held 13 of the top 15 spots in this category, showing the network’s broad appeal across the younger age bracket. However, MS NOW and CNN each managed to break into the demo chart. The Rachel Maddow Show took 11th place with 130,000 demo viewers, while CNN’s CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, airing weeknights at 10 p.m. ET, finished at No. 14 with 117,000 viewers.
The performance of Abby Phillip at 10 p.m. is a notable bright spot for CNN, as the network continues to refine its late-night strategy to better compete with the established audiences of O’Donnell and Fox’s late-night offerings.
Nielsen Big Data + Panel Results (Week of September 14, 2026)
The final tallies for the week provide a clear snapshot of the current state of the cable news race. In the Primetime daypart, Fox News led with 1.618 million total viewers and 147,000 in the A25-54 demo. MS NOW followed with 914,000 total viewers and 81,000 in the demo. CNN trailed in total viewers with 552,000 but surpassed MS NOW in the primetime demo with 88,000 viewers.
For Total Day viewing, Fox News remained the only network to average over a million viewers, finishing with 1.064 million total viewers and 104,000 in the demo. MS NOW secured the second spot in total viewers with 568,000 and narrowly beat out CNN in the demo with 54,000 viewers. CNN concluded the week with 375,000 total day viewers and 53,000 in the A25-54 demographic.
As the industry looks toward the final quarter of 2026, the data from this week suggests that while Fox News remains the incumbent leader, the aggressive growth seen by MS NOW and the steady improvements at CNN indicate a highly competitive environment where demographic wins are increasingly up for grabs.
