For the first time in almost 17 years, Fox News Channel finished third among its competitors within the top viewership demographic for prime time.
Fox News finished behind MSNBC and CNN among 25-54 year olds during primetime last week amid a tumultuous week for the Trump Administration, AdWeek reports. MSNBC came out on top with on average 611,000 viewers between ages 25-54 years old, and 2.44 million total. Fox News had 497,000 viewers in that category, and 2.4 million in total. Fox News still has the top primetime ratings and all-day ratings among its competitors for the full month, Business Insider reports.
Reports of President Donald Trump‘s disclosure of classified intelligence to Russian officials, and reports that he had asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end his investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, dominated cable news last week. Fox News has faced a challenging year with primetime shake-ups and a number of lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and racial discrimination within the company. Last month, Bill O’Reilly, Fox News’ top anchor, was ousted from the channel amid a number of sexual harassment allegations from his colleagues and past guests. He has denied those allegations.
Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson has since filled the 8 p.m. slot left open by O’Reilly. In the last year, former Fox News anchors Megyn Kelly and Greta Van Susteren left for NBC and MSNBC, respectively.