Donald Trump’s favorite right-wing echo chamber is growing emptier.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Fox News is suffering a catastrophic decline in its audience, which plunged to an all-time low just before the midterm elections, new data shows.
Preliminary Nielsen ratings obtained by Status ahead of its official release show the pro-Trump juggernaut is on track to post its lowest-rated month in total daily viewership since December 2023, averaging just 1.1 million total viewers throughout October 2026. However, last year’s ratings were buoyed by huge stories including the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release.
Among the 25-54 year olds coveted by advertisers, the media is heading towards its lowest rated month in a quarter of a century, with a paltry average of 98,000 viewers. He ranks third in this group and fifth among 18 to 49 demos.
This collapse represents a sharp 27 percent drop in total viewers and a 32 percent drop among 25-54 year-olds compared to last October.
Even the morning show “Fox & Friends” marked its second straight month below 1 million total viewers.
Fox is still the only network to average more than 1 million viewers per day in October. But while the network remains at the top of overall cable audiences ahead of sports broadcasting giant ESPN, even despite the return of football, the sudden decline could signal a harsh reality for Republicans as next Tuesday’s vote approaches.
With Donald Trump’s approval rating near an all-time low, conservative interest appears to be exploding just when party leaders need enthusiasm the most.
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The decline in ratings extends directly to prime time, the crucial 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. block run by network chief Suzanne Scott under executive chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Fox News averages 2 million viewers in prime time, down 28 percent from last year, while down 36 percent in the key demographic, to 183,000 viewers. The numbers confirm that even the network’s evening stars are failing to keep key Republican voters engaged.
Same institution early in the morning Fox and friends— traditionally a staple of Trump’s daily personal listening routine — marked his second straight month below 1 million total viewers and below 100,000 in the key demographic.
October was recorded as the flagship morning show’s worst performance among overall audiences since July 2015, and its weakest among 25-54 year-olds since June 2001.
Meanwhile, competing networks are taking advantage of this development. Its progressive rival MS NOW, which Trump despises, increased its daytime audience 16 percent to 588,000 total viewers from last year. CNN, which Trump also despises, saw a 3 percent increase to 402,000 daytime viewers over the same period.
The ratings collapse coincides with an escalation of tensions between Trump and his longtime media outlet of choice.
Trump publicly criticized Fox News on Truth Social for airing interviews with Democratic candidates like Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Kentucky Senate candidate Charles Booker and Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, complaining that Republican figures were being “obfuscated” by mainstream media.
“FoxNews spends far too much time confronting OPPONENTS of Republican Party candidates, people who love our country and have good policies and good ideas,” Trump posted, accusing the network of “trying too hard to be politically correct.”
Trump also raged after Fox News briefly cut live coverage of his flagship campaign rallies, encouraging his supporters to switch to Right Side Broadcast News (RSBN), the far-right news outlet launched by Trump enthusiast Joe Seales in 2015 to broadcast the rallies uninterrupted.
Even the primetime slot, which includes network heavyweights like Sean Hannity, fails to deliver on its promises.
Behind the scenes at network headquarters, insiders suggest that programming choices reflect audience weariness. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Fox host told CNN that the directives came directly from leadership, noting that the internal consensus is simple: “Trump doesn’t evaluate anymore.”
However, with polls set to open in a few days, the network has begun to turn on the president again. His Texas rally was livestreamed Tuesday.
Fox News was asked to comment on the Nielsen data.
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