Fox News, the U.S. cable news network, was on pace for its weakest monthly audience in nearly three years as midterm elections approach, with viewership down 27% year over year, The Independent reported.
Status obtained preliminary Nielsen ratings indicating Fox was on pace to average 1.1 million viewers in October, 27% below October 2025, The Independent reported. The preliminary figures put Fox on pace to average 98,000 viewers ages 25 to 54 in October, down 32% year over year.
If the preliminary figures hold, Fox would post its smallest monthly total since December 2023, with its 25-to-54 audience at its lowest level in 25 years. The Independent said official Nielsen results had not yet been released.
A separate Fox News poll conducted Oct. 9-12 found 36% of registered voters approved of Trump’s job performance and 64% disapproved. On the congressional vote question, 54% favored the Democratic candidate in their district and 45% the Republican. Fox News surveyed 1,202 registered voters and reported a 2.5-percentage-point margin of sampling error for the full sample. EconoTimes previously covered the poll and its findings on cost-of-living concerns.
The Independent reported that Trump criticized Fox for interviewing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Kentucky Senate candidate Charles Booker. In a Truth Social post, Trump accused the network of “trying too hard to be Politically Correct.” He also directed viewers to Right Side Broadcasting Network during a Kansas rally, as described in earlier EconoTimes coverage of his dispute with Fox.
Fox’s audience remained larger than that of every other cable network and ESPN, The Independent reported. MS NOW averaged about 588,000 viewers a day, up 16% from a year earlier, while CNN’s audience rose 3%. The Independent suggested conservative viewers might be tuning out ahead of the election, but its report did not establish a cause for the audience changes.
Official Nielsen figures were still forthcoming. The Independent did not give a release date.
